Chronicles of Halo (After the War) : Part 2 Domestication of Man
by gabriel.soderholm.16
Summary: Second chapter in my Halo Progression Trilogy - Continues the story of Gabriel, Lucifer, Harbinger and Mort'ang (Introduces new characters such as Tangarus and Robert) - Continues tale of the incomming fire between humanity/Storm - as well as the mysterious Forerunner Predecesors PLEASE READ BOOK 1 - Three other books are released so hurry to catch up, also please review me!
1. Chapter 1

Lieutenant Drafter readjusted the two badges situated on her top jacket, making sure they were visible for all to see; besides- this meeting was very important to her, she had to make sure it operated exactly according to procedure and regulations.  
This would be the first time she met with her official, the chief executive of ONI – Serin Osman; the leading official of the Office of Naval Intelligence. Ever since the recent events at 'High Peak' a meeting with the leader of ONI was paramount in order to fulfil her report. So important in fact that the director had come from Earth and met her at an old fuelling station outside the permitter moon of the new colony 'New Genesis'.

The Lieutenant 'Spook' walked into the main office quickly, she had to make sure she got back to her UNSC Battle Cruiser "Red Dusk" before the port taxed her overdue.  
A set of seats and chairs met her in the small fenced of room; every piece of furniture was steel and fixed into the ground like the shackles of a prison. Serin Osman sat at the head of the table, her former military career revealed through her perfect posture and heavily muscled arms.  
She smiled slowly at the Lieutenant, her eyes perceiving and watching her at every choice and flicker of movement; she was a tough women, as tough as nails most said.

"Good afternoon Lieutenant Drafter, I hope the fuel is at your liking; we had it imported from the Unggoy transfer companies, seems like the only things those little whelps are good at." Osman spoke heavily, letting every word impact the individual listener. This women had the power to kill any man or women by a word, her voice definitely had the radiance for that sort of dominance.  
"Indeed, thank you Ma'am" Drafter responded, "At pursuit of the Priority 2 Agreement with the Sangheili race, we have been given more than enough time to react and halt the excavation of the Forerunner site."

Osman cocked her head to the side confused, "Are you speaking of the mission objective 'High Peak' in which a UNSC frigate under your command met its destruction?"  
"Indeed I am Ma'am."  
"Then you must understand that all responses to this violation of the Priority 2 Agreement have been carefully assessed and processed, I believe you remember the main conscripter against this priority was a member of the Storm faction?" She assessed the Lieutenant slowly, another smile etching across her face.  
Drafter nodded, careful not to etch the anger inside of her to be portrayed through her facial expressions; she knew how this conversation was going to end.

"Therefore I think it's safe to presume that the rouge faction of Storm isn't leading the entire covenant armada against us, anyway the ONI reports have already issued the Arbiter's personal council on the matter." Osman continued, flicking her communications lap-pad to activate, "Also Lieutenant, the matter of rouge units and covenant forces has been addressed in the file in front of you." She pointed to a large stack of notes on her table, all classified with directions and orders set by the directors of ONI.  
"But…"  
The Chief Operator stopped her, "The Storm situation is not for us to deal with Lieutenant, you have your orders and I would hope you could abide to them…or do you not remember what happened to your squad of Spartans after they went against your orders."

The lieutenant stopped herself for a moment, remembering the events of her Spartan's betrayal with a very small amount of enthusiasm. She nodded once, accepting Osman's analysis and justified answer of the situation, however feeling angered over how the director had barely noticed the Lieutenant's arguments; instead choosing to reside with her own. As was typical for ONI protocols and regulations.  
Drafter nodded once, grabbing the official files of the table and leaving the room whilst saying her goodbyes to the head of Office of Naval Intelligence.

Osman's voice led her out, "I appreciate your concern Lieutenant, but the UNSC HighCom will not be notified of such a small issue regarding rogues; I am confident in your Battle Cruiser's ability to deal with this situation."

The Lieutenant turned her back on the director, a little disgusted with her superior's decisions and choices in the matter. And for the first time in her life, she questioned the morals and ethical view of ONI, and whose side the master corporation really worked for.


	2. Chapter 2

USNC Class Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, Division Beta, CODE – 109602 Name "Robert McCallum"  
That was how he was to address himself from now on, no identity apart from the name 'Rob' or the call-sign 'Beta -10' or even just 'Private'. No recognition of who he really was, no justification in his new lifestyle or titles. The only thing that his detachment to the ONI formation Battle Cruiser named 'Red Dusk' had really taught him, was that identity was mainly based on code-names and actions; not who he really was or felt like inside.

Robert walked down the column with the rest of his team, a twelve man team of ODST's similar to himself; yet somehow more different to him then he could ever imagine. He was around the end of a quick progression of loaned UNSC forces to the ONI divisions of offensive counter-action on rogue units throughout the galaxy, hopefully this job brought with it more opportunities to reveal his own worth to the rest of the group.

After reacquainting himself with the mess hall, armoury, his private quarters, the training rooms and of course the debriefing section of the massive ship; the ODST walked around, exploring the hull of the vessel as he searched for some form of recreational centre. He was alone as he found himself in some of the more advanced forms of training rooms and mechanical mech's, a massive hanger-bay lay dormant to his right; filled with UNSC Warthog's and light Reconnaissance Mongoose's.

He turned around again, getting mad at the lack of a recreational centre; these ONI soldiers couldn't be so screwed over and paranoid to not require a few hours of once in a while? Robert started considering going back to his private quarters in failure, he had a scheduled debriefing in three hours so he had time to burn; but something stopped him.  
A figure walked past the hanger bay quickly, a lot quicker than any human he knew. It had flashed blue as he saw it walk by, almost as if it were an encased minor elite running through.

Robert shook his head, he was being paranoid with the lack of food in his belly currently; but he followed the strange entity quickly, trying to catch up as soon as he could.  
The strange being entered a heavy set of corridors, walking briskly through the metal hangers quickly and efficiently.

"Hey you…stop!" Robert called ahead, trying to identify the unknown warrior in front of him. The figure immediately stopped walking, its blue armour not revealing anything until it turned around and faced the pesky ODST.

A Golden visor loomed down on him, surrounded by a heavy Mjonlir Mark V helmet that co-existed with the heavy blue armour that encased his entire chest, right arm and legs. However his left arm was something completely different, a white skinny set of mechanical levers and aluminium fibres that together formed a robotic arm with a nimble set of fingers at the edge.  
It was a legendary Spartan IV, a super-soldier that could defy all odds and defeat the demons of the covenant without a trouble or pain in the world; it was true to say that Robert almost felt humbled to be in the blue soldier's presence.

"What" A single word renounced through his helmet's microphone amplifier, almost deafening the ODST with the harsh simplicity of his demand.  
Robert took a while to respond, all too aware of how much power this abomination possessed; maybe his team-mates were right about how wrong it was and how flawed these soldiers really were.  
"You know where the recreational centre is man?" The Hell-jumper questioned, all too aware on how stupid he sounded after he spoke.  
The Spartan IV stared at him slowly, the massive golden visor piercing through his question and revealing how stupid it really was; then without a word the blue soldier turned his back on him and started walking away.

"Hey!" Robert called out, he knew his question was foolish but this Spartan was being plain rude to him, "Dude I just want…"  
And then the hell-jumper made his first mistake, grabbing onto the blue soldier's shoulder pad lightly; simply trying to gain his attention but unfortunately receiving all of it at once.

The Spartan IV spun around quickly, smashing his mechanical elbow back into the ODST's chest and sending him flying back into the side of a corridor wall. Robert collapsed against the floor, looking up at the soldier with a confused anger.  
"What the hell was that for man? Jesus you Spartans are just bound to fail!" He swore at the ONI controlled soldier, spitting out at the floor.

Silence filled the atmosphere as the statement made was carried onto the Spartan slowly, letting him walk forward with both fists clenched; one mechanical and the other encased in heavy blue gloves as armour. It didn't make a sound, simply standing over the fallen ODST and slowly staring at him in a fixture of complete anger, fury and above all: Sadness.

The Spartan IV didn't make a sound, but he unclenched his arms and simply turned around; controlling himself as he left the ODST lying down in the middle of the corridor. He didn't turn back, only keeping himself going with the memories of his fallen squad and friends.  
He couldn't turn back.


	3. Chapter 3

"All-right! Gather round soldiers of the UNSC and ONI specialists, our course correction will be headed straight for the gamma section outside the regular colonies you're used to." Lieutenant Drafter roared to all of the amassed soldiers in front of her, " We're headed straight for the glassed remains of Trident, where security implications has revealed a large mass of Falconer rogue units, led by their War Chieftain and Priestess : Tangarus and Phi-Gar."  
Two images flickered onto her screen; of a massive hulking Brute chieftain and a small and lithe looking Jackal dressed in ceremonial robes. Both of the images had an ONI classification printed on them and a bounty list for their murders or captures.

"As soon as we step down on Trident, I want regular reports on these two and there movements; information is critical people, I want eyes open and fingers on the triggers. No-one snuffs these guys without my approval, understood?" She yelled, letting her voice carry out to all the marines, personal and borrowed ODST squad.

They all answered her swiftly, "Sir Yes sir!" just like they had been trained to do. The lieutenant peered through and watched all their faces; wondering if her Spartan team, or what was left of it, had decided to hear her speech. A relief came through her as she saw the Black Silhouette of Lucifer in the corner, but the Blue Spartan named Gabriel was no-where to be seen.

She dismissed them all quietly, informing them that they were to be combat ready in two hours for the slip-space jump they were ready to commit. On her private communications com however, she radioed the Black Spartan to meet her; she had to put her foot down on the blue Spartan, even if it meant crushing him to a pulp.

A soft inhale shocked her, she turned around and saw the massive Spartan IV named Lucifer in front of her; he had snuck up so easily on her, but then again that was his job. He was an infiltration's specialist, even equipped with a stolen covenant Active Camouflage unit and jet black armour to mix in with the night. He barely spoke, giving Drafter two Spartans that would refuse to say a word to her after the events of 'High Peak."  
"Lucifer good, I'll keep it brief." She spoke confidently, despite the fact that the same Spartan had knocked her out once before, "Gabriel's lack of presence is disturbing me, why is he refusing to operate as he is told and regulated!"

The black Spartan grumbled, he never liked being forced into positions where he had to speak to an authority or anyone for that matter, "Regulations don't teach us how to cope with loss ma'am." His voice always seemed to stun her; it was never truly revealed and was therefore capturing and powerful.  
"How poetic" She snarled, "Get your team-mate back onto track before I dispense you for not acting and assorting to your regulations and duties?"  
Lucifer didn't answer her, instead just confirming with a simple nod and then leaving; turning his back on the official and walking back to his quarters.

**Meanwhile**  
Blue lights emanated from the beam rifles large reticule bloom, its owner peered down the sights of the massive rifle. It squawked loudly to its brethren of Kig-Yar, informing them that they could advance without fear of death. The Jackal sniper continued watching as the minor's slowly pushed forward through the destroyed buildings and glassed floor.

A large clan of Jiralhanae advanced from the right, roughly breaking through the undergrowth of destroyed buildings with their tough and crudely patterned spiked weaponry. They were led by a simple set of Brute Major's that carried a set of Brute Shot's, Maulers and red plasma rifles. The combined forces of the Kig-Yar and Jiralhanae slowly cut through and met in the middle of the pasture.

Two leaders formed up in front of the combined force, joining together around the middle figure and speaking to themselves. The brute War Chieftain, Tangarus; was clad in heavy black and red armour mesh with a gravity hammer holstered onto his back. The Priestess Jackal, Phi-Gar; was unarmed and covered in red and purple cloths.

They spoke together slowly, each in their respectable languages and tones. After discussing the topic together, they commanded there forces to uncover and grab the large cylinder objects lying on the floor.  
They were UNSC missiles, still operational and still arm-able.  
They were UNSC Havoc Nukes.


	4. Chapter 4

The black soil remained spoiled, patterned randomly with shell casings, blood splatters and bodies that no covenant had bothered to clean up. The legendary suit of a Spartan IV lay encrusted at the edge of the destroyed soil, it was occasionally checked and even kicked; but left alone as well. To the forces of Storm, the only loot worth grabbing was that which resided inside the Forerunner shuttle.

A triangular ship sat on the top of the sickly soil, its entire hull excavated and completely freed of the sinking earth. It was basely constructed around a sphere hull with three sets of erupting wing tips as well as a set of metal corridors that encased the entire vehicle.  
Orange lights illuminated the large shuttle, traveling through its curves and down its ridge lines like some forms of lightning striking down from the sky. The rest of the ship was a heavy set of silver and black, not revealing any insignia's or signs that would permit information about its mission, destination or purpose.

Currently it was being overthrown and watched by a heavy set of Covenant Storm soldiers, amassing from the regular Sangheili and Grunts to Jackals and even Hunters. They didn't enter the vehicle, having proven that its defence measures were unclear and potentially dangerous.

At the head of the entire possession stood a very large and formidable Sangheili official, a creature armoured in mimicked Arbiter armour; the change being in the colour palette resorting to a heavy and deep Jet-Black shade. He was the bane of mankind, the hand of the Storm and the Harbinger of doom to all that opposed him. A long silver handle stuck from his back holster, it was his signature weapon; a plasma reaper discovered long ago inside the caverns of a Forerunner site.  
He watched over the soldier in his command slowly, truth be told he was bored with his current objective; he missed the slaughter of battle and the cries of mercy. His lust for battle spun so far that he had saved the life of a Spartan IV in order for the human to specifically hunt him down and prove himself a challenge over the others.  
That human hadn't come back for him yet, but when he did; well the odds were always in the Harbinger's favour and he was confident in his own prowess when the eventuality came to pass.

A small holographic image activated in front of him, it was coming from the large Covenant Supreme Carrier "Infamous Fury" that was situated above the entire site and formation of Storm soldiers.  
"Harbinger" the voice called from the simulation; the voice belonging to a San 'Shyuum Hierarch of the Storm faction, "The holy Oracle awaits your comfort inside the Saviour, be sure to present it to me in a manner worthy of the Great Journey."  
"Yes Hierarch" He replied, his four mandibles splitting apart in symmetrical movement as he spoke roughly; his white rows of teeth revealing out of the soft skin and heavy black armour.

The large official gestured with one large and muscular arm to a battalion of Sangheili minors in order for them to follow him, he didn't trusted the foolish antics of the Jackals and Grunts; he barely even trusted the Elite warriors he had governed to follow him.  
"O' Harbinger" The red major of the battalion bowed to him, holding his Carbine rifle in one arm as he did so, "What are your orders?"

The Black Sangheili official looked down at him slowly, nodding his personal confirmation over the major before commanding, "Govern all entrances to the holy Saviour, if any of your soldiers fire one plasma bolt in that shuttle; I will personally hang all of you by your entrails on the hull of the Infamous Fury!" He growled at the red elite, letting his words and tone create a frightening effect on the underling warrior.  
"Wort Wort," The major confirmed clumsily, resorting to simple Shanghalli languages to relay the message to the rest of his warriors. The blue minors nodded and roared their understanding, clicking there Storm Rifles into a neutral position.

The Harbinger didn't wait for them, climbing up on the forerunner vessel and readying to enter the entire shuttle. He grabbed the handle on his back swiftly, holding it in his large right paw of a hand in nervous anticipation for anything that could be inside the vehicle. The Black official looked back to the battalion of elites that were waiting for his next move, the minors honking to each other in confusion. He nodded to the red major smoothly.

And then he entered the vessel.

More orange flashes circulated from inside the vehicle, traveling around the corridors of the entire forerunner scout ship. Runes encased the walls, all formulating a strange and not understandable language. These posed no interest to the Harbinger, he continued forward; walking through the corridors and heading for the central sphere at the mid-point of the entire vessel.

The lights slowly led him to a large set of strange devices aligned on the wall; a closer look confirmed them as Promethean automatic weapons that ran from simple Bolt-shots to the larger set of Light Rifles. The Harbinger still continued, letting the Storm elites gaze at the forerunner weaponry is something close to wonder and awe.  
He kept walking, quicker and quicker; following the orange flashes until finally he led himself and his formation of elites into the sphere of the vessel.  
It was rather small, only small enough for a grunt to properly fit in; the Black elite was starting to regret not bringing Unggoy along when suddenly he saw it.

A gold light that slowly hovered outside of the sphere, it was engraved in more strange forerunner symbols and runes; all circling around the primary light in the central point of the whole little vessel.

"Greetings, I am 01 Guardian Monitor, you may call me Recognisable Barrier of Testimony." The Oracle spoke energetically, its golden light almost blinding the Sangheili warriors.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ready for combat drop in 20!"  
Lights flashed all along the hanger bay swiftly, bathing the entire corridor set into red light; the drop-pod's sat in the corner of the hanger in sets of twelve. The ODST's encased their body mesh with light sets of overlapping armour pieces, fitting their heads with the distinctive triangular helmets of the Hell-Jumper insignia.

Robert rubbed his sore shoulder as he grabbed his silver visor and stuck it around his head. Two other ODST's stood next to him, both of them female weapons specialists that were readjusting there armour pieces and grabbing heavy weaponry from the side armoury.

Robert was new to this group; they had been fighting alongside ONI for a long time; unlike the typical UNSC soldier who barely knew anything about the sneaky shadow organisation. What he had learned about this new group was interesting to him however, they were a 12 man organisation with all different roles and specialities; all of them were given their names being issued after Sharks of the original human colony of Earth, well all of them besides him.

Robert shrugged of the feeling of not belonging and quickly grabbed a silenced Submachine gun from the stack on the side as well as a simple semi-firing pistol.

"All right Maggots move your arses and get in those pods!" The Sergeant spoke, a tough burly man nicknamed 'Grey White.' He carried a UNSC shotgun in his arms and a tough amount of armour braced over his chest and torso; his silver ODST visor was easily identified by the red customised crosshair that ran over the area of his right eye.

The twelve man squad of ODST's slowly entered their own drop-pods, putting their weaponry inside the shuttle holster. Robert sat down in one of the last vehicles, ready to strap himself in and plummet down to the awaiting forces below.

Another voice com'd over his radio signal, "Forces of the UNSC, remember your priority targets; all Falconer forces are marked as hostile, take no quarter and you will receive none." It was Lieutenant Drafter, debriefing them right before the objective like a bunch of foolish children.  
"Hoorah!" two Hell-Jumpers roared over the shared com, ready to jump into the battle and get this over and done with.

A red light slashed onto Robert's HUD, flicking golden quickly and then finally changing to the official green. Suddenly the set of dozen drop-pods were unlatched from the Battle Carrier "Red Dusk" and started descending down into the clouds and atmosphere of the glassed and wrecked human colony planet of Trident.

Lightning flashed past the ODST's large window view as they descended down swiftly, he rechecked his armour and weaponry; making sure he was ready for anything that might and probably would happen to all of them.  
"We've got impact in 60 seconds, keep your mind on the objective; I don't want anyone playing the hero out there!" Grey White roared.  
"Oh and here I thought my life vocation was going to be fulfilled." Another ODST replied, 'Mako the tryhard clown of the squad.  
"Look me in the eye soldier" The Sergeant's helmet came onto all of their screens, his glove pointing to the reticule engraved in red on his visor. That was his unofficial motto he would tell them all before the familiar smash on the earth and the pop of the hood.

"Impact in 10 seconds" He continued roaring to them, his constant supervision making Robert feel uncomfortable with his situation. He always felt uneasy right before the impact of a combat drop and the danger that followed.

"3…2…1" A voice called out, right before the entire drop-pod deployed its emergency measures and smashed straight into the earth harshly. The ODST jolted sharply, grabbing the silenced SMG from his holster and cocking it ready. He recovered from the dizziness caused by shell impacted and quickly prepared his armour for anything waiting outside as soon as his shuttle's 'hood' popped open and smashed against the ground.

Robert jumped out quickly, scanning the area as he fell down from the drop-pod and landed in a crouched position. His radar pinged as eleven other ODST's detached themselves from the pods, jumping out as he did and landing on the rough broken ground.  
The private walked forward slowly, noticing the ground cracked as he stepped down; a direct outcome to what happened to a glassed planet. Broken walls and houses silhouetted in front of him; somewhere in that small assemblage of buildings sat his objective.

"Thresher" The Sergeant spoke to the sniping unit of his squad, "Get that scope of yours to check out the objective area."  
Another ODST took point, a burly female by the name of 'Tiger', she held a short issued Battle Rifle in both her gloves as she walked forward.  
"We've got a job to do ODST's, let's mop this together quickly." The Grey White saluted to all of them, cocking his standard UNSC shotgun and arming it to fire.


	6. Chapter 6

The rifle was weighing in the creature's skinny arms, it was a rather large weapon for just him to carry; but orders were orders and he didn't want to be fed to other members of his race. The Kig-Yar were notoriously famous for the ability to eat anything with meat attached, the Jackals were almost parasitical in nature as they had the ability to hoard everything and eat anything they got their scrawny talons on. This sniper was slowly surveying the transaction between the Chieftain and the Priestess when something caught his attention; making him lift the huge Beam rifle up and look through the sights. He peered through the large scope at his prey, a large squad of ODST's that were slowly progressing up the hill and into the buildings.  
He gestured to another Jackal scout, this one carrying a simple covenant carbine in both its feathery and lightly muscled arms. After squawking once, the scout's knew exactly where to fire.

A singular long and thin green projectile spun through the air, spinning a numerous amounts of time as it honed in on its target. It swooped in low and smashed into the lower neck of a human ODST hell-jumper by the nickname of "Hammerhead". Blood emitted from the wound furiously, causing the soldier to drop to the floor and fall face forward onto the thick and rocky pile of rocks.

More projectiles swung low, threatening to execute the other ODST's of the squad; causing them to drop low and watch there perimeters for any more sniper fire.  
"Dammit! Nurse, go check on Hammerhead; the rest of you, keep your heads down and your rifles in the sky," Grey White shouted at them, "Thresher, I want those dammed snipers taken out now!"

A thick blue beam flew through the heavy atmosphere, smashing down and cutting through the rock the ODST's had used for cover. It slashed through and serrated another soldier precisely in the middle of his abdomen. A sizable hole was left behind as the soldier fell to the floor, death only a minute away.  
The Hell-Jumers roared and immediately opened fire on the jackals, using there DMR's and Battle Rifles to cut through the sniping Kig-Yar, leaving light purple blood to emit from their skulls and chests. Their frail corpses fell to the ground, light red armour and bristles covering their bodies.

"All-right push up!" The Sergeant roared to his squad, firing his Shotgun at more Jackals; these ones were carrying heavy barrier shields that emitted from gauntlets in there left wrists. Hammerhead stood up slowly, the wound in his neck partially healed; leaving him operational for more combat. He jumped up once, firing his UNSC standard grenade launcher into the air and letting it smash down on the unprotected jackals.  
Small green plasma blasts cut and splattered over the ODST's light armour, leaving blood patches but not harming them excessively as they all threw UNSC fragmentation grenades to finish of the shielded Jackal minors. The radius of the grenade's combined explosive cut into the Jackal's spines and sides from behind, sending them flying forward and into the ground.

The Sergeant stopped advancing for a second, unsure how many Falconers were ahead of him in this abandoned and destroyed human colony. Two more Jackals stood on the high walls of a broken wreck of a house, one carrying a Needle Rifle and the other a Carbine.  
They were dropped swiftly, not even seeing the enemy that cut them down without a second's hesitation or waste.

A roar emitted from inside the broken house, a pair of small red eyes appeared out of the darkness slowly. The entire creature stomped forward, a brutish soldier covered in heavy amounts of hair and muscle; barely any armour covering it. Its tusks parted slowly as it observed the intruding humans, another roar challenged them until finally it sprinted towards them.

The ODST's opened fire together, their automatic rifles cutting into the thick and solid hide of the Jiralhanae barbarian and barely seeming to affect the massive and frenzied creature.  
It rushed forward barbarically, managing to slash its massive spiker rifle across the armoured chest piece of the ODST private named "Whale" before it was dropped by a simple overdose of ammunition shrapnel and the shotgun pellets of Grey White.**  
**"Nurse, check out the Whale; Hammerhead you're on your feet?" Grey White roared at them, this mission had turned to hell before it had even started. He had already lost one ODST, with two wounded next to him.

"Yes sir" Hammerhead spat, advancing with the rest of them; he had positioned a bandage over his neck and luckily the projectile had only skinned his neck slightly.  
"Jesus this turned to hell" Marko spoke slowly, checking over the fallen body of the Jiralhanae minor that had rushed them.  
"Look me in the eye ODST!" Grey white roared again before keying in his communications, "Command? We may need assistance on the completion of this objective, there are a lot more Falconers here then we already anticipated."

Suddenly, as if answering the breath of a god; something answered the ODST. In the form of two large and heavily reinforced UNSC drop pods, they smashed into the ground quickly; unloading there cargo efficiently. Robert watched the doors open out of the drop-pods, revealing the assistance they had called for.

Two Spartan IV's exited the shuttles, one was patterned with heavy jet black armour and the other was outfitted with simple blue armour with a mechanical left arm. They were overloaded with weaponry and grenades; they stood at least two feet taller than the regular hell-jumpers and looked as grim as ever.  
Ready for combat.  
Ready for hell.


	7. Chapter 7

The Blue Spartan walked up quickly, his footsteps as loud as a brute's roar; he gestured swiftly with one arm up the building so quickly the ODST's couldn't tell if he was pointing to something or throwing a grenade. The second Spartan held back, simply sharpening his knife and waiting for his buddy to make the call for him to join in.

"I want your sharpshooters up on that building, spread them out across it and keep low; I don't want any movement until I've given the all clear." The commanding Spartan spoke to them, his voice was soft but the suit's amplifier orchestrated it heavily to them.  
Grey White stepped forward, unimpressed with the 'freaks' appearance and orders he was trying to dish out, "And since when did you did you become Sergeant of my squad? These soldiers are staying with me."

The Spartan IV reacted explosively, not even pausing to grab the ODST and lift him up from his neck and shoulders as he shouted into his face, "And what were you going to do? Run in there and get mowed down one by one!?" The other ODST's protested, aiming their rifles at the blue Spartan; unsure of how to act. The Black Spartan IV reacted immediately, as if he knew something like this would happen; he knew that if this held on, bloodshed would be inevitable.

"Gabriel! Ease down, they aren't your enemy." His team-mate yelled at him, grabbing his shoulder and forcing the sergeant down from the mechanical grip.  
The Blue Spartan stopped himself from harassing the rest of the squad, breathing heavily he slumped to a seated position and started reloading his sniper rifle again; keeping his hands busy with something that didn't involve strangling friendlies.  
Lucifer watched him for a second, before turning back to the shocked ODST squad, "I apologise for him, he is not himself; but I would really appreciate if you just did what he said next time."

An ODST stepped forward, Marko the troublemaker, "Sarge was right, he's not the commander of our unit and neither are you." He pointed his finger straight at the Spartan, not getting within touching distance.  
"No he's not your Sergeant, but he is a Lieutenant Commander; therefore you really do have to do what he says." Lucifer stepped forward menacingly, letting them know who they were really answering to.  
Grey White pondered it for a second while rubbing his neck, "Very well, we'll do it your way. But I am holding both of you personally responsible if I lose one man out there."

The Blue Spartan stood up slowly, "Sharpshooters with me, the rest of you follow Lucifer round the centre." He led them up the building quickly, scoping through his sniper rifle down at the amassed Falconer forces that was preparing to barricade up.  
He shuffled forward, letting the two ODST's follow him; their names were Thresher and Nurse. One had a sniper like him and the other, a Designated Marksman Rifle. Gabriel scoped out the location swiftly, all too aware that the enemy force had probably called in for reinforcements or even for extraction.

But no, it was a lot worse than that.  
"Is that what I think it is?" Thresher asked to his left, his sniper rifle aiming down at the same set of cylinder tubes the Spartan was looking at.  
"UNSC class Havoc nukes grade 2, it seems the Falconers are here for a reason." Gabriel complied, aiming down the sights at the sight of the Jiralhanae and Kig-Yar slowly equipping the nukes onto a stolen phantom aircraft. He confirmed sight on both Tangarus and the priestess Phi-Gar before calling in to command.

"Drafter? This is Gabriel" He spoke quickly, not choosing or caring over her official ONI classified title, "Falconer target Alpha and Beta are lined up and confirmed, they seem to be loading Havoc Nukes onto a stolen phantom vehicle; permission to engage?"  
Silence awaited him on the other side, this was taking to long for the Spartan; the second squad down below would be detected any minute and the nukes were nearly completely on-loaded.  
"Permission to engage!?" He spoke louder; he knew they could hear him on the other side and he didn't appreciate being ignored. He readjusted his angles right over the Brute Chieftain's head before switching it to the Havoc nukes, they weren't primed say they would just act like simple missiles; obliterating the group but not harming his squad.

"Negative Gabriel, pull back" The voice finally came through.  
Gabriel paused for a moment, confused, "Say again command?"  
"Pull back Spartan, we've gathered new Intel on the Falconers; ONI wishes for us to simply track them for now. We have reasons to believe they are working for the Storm." Drafter's voice came over again, leaving him dumbfounded.  
"Ma'am, I say again; these rouge units have acquired a heavy set of Havoc Nukes!" He whispered angrily, making sure his reticule was aimed right at them. The ODST's at either side were looking at him anxiously, unsure on what they should do next.  
"I am ordering you to pull back." Her voice finalised, completing the call.  
Gabriel shrugged to the other soldiers before telling them all, "All right we have to fall back, new orders – we've got to wait by our drop-pods for extraction."  
"What!"  
"Dude did you…"  
Angry chatter filled the communications as he stood up, disarming his sniper rifle.  
"Not my call ODST's form up and get moving." Gabriel spoke, a hint of anger in his tone at Drafter as well as their lack of loyalty.

Suddenly Lucifer's voice came over the private Spartan radio headset, "Gabriel, I have confirmed sighting of an elite up there!"  
"What!" Gabriel shouted, crouching back down and looking through the sights of his sniper rifle again. The Havoc nukes had now successfully been on loaded onto the phantom, letting the Brutes and Jackals climb aboard.

One last figure walked up, a golden zealot with an energy sword marked on his holster. It turned its head and gazed to the direction of Gabriel for a moment before growling loudly and drawing his blue cackling energy shield.  
Because they recognised each other.  
It was the Royal Zealot named Mort'ang.


	8. Chapter 8

The communications signal apparently didn't work inside the saviour's set of orange and black walls, confusion was traveling all along the battalions of Storm soldiers as well as those aboard the Covenant Supreme Carrier "Infamous Fury." It hadn't been long since the prophet of Storm had sent in the Harbinger and his Sangheili forces, but the San 'Shyuum was starting to get nervous with the lack of conversation between them. Without the ongoing task to orchestrate, the Prophet of Storm was stuck with ruling over the 'Thunder' fleet that was starting to amass together under the name of Jul 'Mdama and the Prophet of Storm.

"Hierarch, the Harbinger has returned back from the saviour; no casualties derived." An operating pilot spoke quickly.  
"Has the Oracle been recovered?" Storm replied, uninterested in the casualty report.  
"Yes your Excellency, the Harbinger is personally escorting the Oracle directly to the Infamous Fury; the Sangheili are restless over the new arrival." The reporting pilot continued, issuing in the conversations he had relayed from the large black elite and the red major.  
The hierarch nodded again, turning on his hovering throne and activating a holographic image to be displayed directly towards the Harbinger. As soon as the black figure appeared on the simulation, it bowed its head and sheathed his plasma reaper.  
"O Almighty Prophet, the oracle of truth has been discovered." The silhouette spoke roughly, there was obviously something else on the Harbinger's mind.  
"Good" The seated hierarch nodded, turning to his left he spoke to the piloting operator, "Prepare a phantom for them."

"No need" The Harbinger cut him of abruptly, looking of to his left as he spoke. Before the San 'Shyuum could question his actions, he deactivated the communications. The Hierarch questioned the morals of his 'hand', it wasn't usual for his servants to cut of communications without the prophet's permission.  
Confusion continued to transfer through the prophet as he failed to locate the Harbinger with the simulation device, a familiar roar suddenly sounded behind him.

The Hierarch spun his hover throne around quickly, to see the strange sight of the Harbinger standing in front of him with a golden monitor floating behind him slowly.  
Prophet of Storm spoke triumphantly, "The Holy oracle finally appears itself to us, ready to reveal the secrets and bounties of the universe."  
The Golden Oracle floated down slowly, looking at the prophet before declaring, "I am 01 Guardian Monitor, and you may call me Recognisable Barrier of Testimony. I must ask you, as an observer of the galaxy's ways and movements; how long has my shuttle been frozen in place?"

Confusion rocked through the Hierarch, "Holy Oracle, do you mean to tell us that you possess no information on the prowess of the great journey? Or the gods you served?"  
"My memory banks of the Forerunner data systems have slowly been uncatalogued and corrupted overtime in hibernation, discovery of these new systems and purposes is paramount to me as I must refrain from the lack of containment from the deadly plague." Testimony replied slowly, his voice mechanical and soft; but still representing the shock and confusion in his thoughts.

The prophet had heard enough, "Take this oracle to a holding pen large enough."  
Roars of confusion and outrage emitted from the Sangheili warriors and pilots, one of them stepped forward immediately, "O Hierarch, this is a holy oracle!"

"False!" The prophet roared back, 'This oracle is not holy; it has no information and no use to us in its current state!"  
"Incorrect, my memory banks of the existing universe could easily be replenished by a simple data-catalogue of its current stasis." Testimony continued, its golden light starting to brighten up.

The prophet didn't reply, instead he made a foolish and rushed mistake of grabbing the oracle from the air, trying to pull it down to his level. It squealed quietly, the golden light flashing red for a momentary second.  
Suddenly, a large collection of golden lights appeared in the cockpit; all amassed around the prophet in an offensive move. They appeared completely, revealing a trio of heavy metallic creatures armed around the Hierarch. A heavy structured triangular back created the brute size of the monster, its skinny arms and legs held together with a strange epiphany of golden light. The head was structured strangely as well, a dual set of eyes and pincers with a split light down the middle that emitted a golden light. The entire creature was fashioned with the same hue as Recognisable Barrier of Testimony, the golden lights repeating through all three of them.

They were Promethean knights, the 'Guardians' of forerunner values and beliefs; and the strict guards to the 01 Guardian Monitor.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hierarch let go of the oracle!" The Harbinger roared, grabbing his energy reaper from the sheath and activating it quickly; the blades curving out and reaching full capacity of energy. The Guardian Promethean's raised their weaponry at him, their own blades easily accessible via their left arms. It was a strange stand of, the prophet clinging onto a Monitor surrounded by golden promethean knights that were in turn being challenged by this massive black elite.

Storm breathed loudly as he saw the brute strength and capabilities of the promethean knights in front of him; and then a smile reached his face as he finally let the monitor go. It bounced back into proper position and resumed a regular goldish hue.  
The Golden Prometheans instantly lowered their weaponry, but stayed cautious to their monitor just in case for more injury or danger involved. One of them twitched its split helmet, letting a small fragment of gold matter fall onto the floor from the vicious and uncontrollable skull under the hood.  
"The gods smile upon us!" The Hierarch yelled out-loud, victorious at last, leaving the Sangheili confused and the Promethean guards to be left wary.

"Do you not see how this portrayal has left us? A golden army given to us by the gods, in order to assist our acceptance into the journey of the mantle and the predecessors!" He continued to rant, letting the other species catch on and roar with him.  
"I am terribly confused" Testimony spoke, "The role of these guardian's is to assist in the battle against the flood as well as my own protection and needs, they are not to be used for any other such purpose." Its voice sounded tiny compared to the hum of weapons drawn, and the triumphant roars.

"Oracle, we have much to discuss of the ways of the universe" Storm spoke to it directly, twisting his words to some form of advantage. He slowly led the way forward on his hover shrivel chair, letting the small device follow him.  
"Indeed we do" the Monitor followed without question, eager to restore its data and information banks by any means necessary.

**Meanwhile**  
"Spartan! Stand down!" A voice called out to him, but it was all just noise to him; the only thing that would satisfy and leave Gabriel content would be the purple rush of Mort'ang's blood flowing down onto the floor like rainwater.  
And so he sprinted, straight forward without control or needs to look where he was going; he drew his sidearm, a USNC heavy magnum from his thigh holster and immediately started firing at the golden zealot in a frenzied hatred.

For his part, the zealot sprinted forward as well but with an energy sword in his tight grip and more of a paced and understandable movement. They both charged each other, the Spartan IV blind on vengeance and the uncontrollable need to avenge his fallen friend and brother. The neared the phantom as they reached each other in an uncontrollable speed and frenzy, the Zealot attempted to raise his sword and slash across the Spartan's abdomen and cut him belly to neck.

But Gabriel didn't let him, with a loose cry of rage the Spartan IV crashed full on into the Sangheili warrior, sending them both flying into the cracked glassy floor. The energy sword spun once and landed in the floor, sticking into the glass with the handle prodding out for anyone to grab.  
The two bodies massed together, punching and kicking at each other in a frenzied hate and instinct to survive from the opposition's wrath. Gabriel managed to fire his magnum twice right in the belly of the elite, letting it rip through the soft unprotected body mesh.

Mort'ang roared and kicked the Spartan of himself with his two powerful legs, they both stood up warily before the elite managed to get the jump on his enemy. With another kick he sent the Spartan into the wall of a nearby broken building, he punched at him again; getting him in the stomach and doubling the human over.  
Then finally he punched one more time, activating his small energy dagger that prodded from his wrist gauntlet right into the chest of the foolish soldier.

But the Spartan stopped him, with his left arm; the one arm that was impervious to damage as it was formed with metal and aluminium files. Gabriel kicked him back once, advancing while his opponent was starting to recover, he then jumped up swiftly; landing his entire body weight, including his Spartan suit through the undeniable strength of his left arm. The punch smashed into Mort'ang's lower jaw, sending him flying back and smash into the phantom that was almost three metres away.

The elite moaned once before slowly standing up and sitting back down inside the phantom with the rest of the covenant soldiers; who had been waiting with anticipation over what would happen.

Gabriel roared out to him, "Where is your honour now!" his voice cracked as he screamed; sending trickles of blood down his throat.  
Mort'ang called out as soon as the phantom started flying away, "Where your friends head is!"

Rage overcame the blue Spartan as he unleashed his UNSC sniper rifle and quickly tried to reload it so he could put a bullet in the Sangheili's head. His anger became his downfall as the gun jammed due to his slippery fingers. He roared and threw it away in disgust, almost buckling down on his knees to weep.

"Spartan! You ok?" A voice called from his right, a genuine concerned voice.  
A voice that did nothing but spark the flames inside of him, Gabriel stood up in complete anger and rage; he didn't even make a noise as he punched the ODST who had interrupted him in the gut brutally; the soldier fell to the floor in agony, leaving him at the mercy of the frenzied Spartan who aimed to take him in the head and take him out for good.  
He got tackled from behind by a rough and tough figure, Gabriel let it happen; he barely even cared if Lucifer had beaten him up again. But when he looked up, he realised the black Spartan hadn't knocked him over.

It was another ODST, the rookie of the group. The same one he had knocked back on the Red Dusk before.  
As Gabriel watched in something close to amazement as Robert bared his fists and roared, "If you want him then you're going to have to get past me."


	10. Chapter 10

"Start from the beginning" the voice called out from the darkness.  
Gabriel smashed the table in front of him in frustration, its steel frame buckled under his collected weight and anger, "I told you this already!" He was sick of being treated like a criminal, somewhere out there; the forces of Storm were starting to amass under one banner and here he was, being interrogated.  
"Evidently you didn't Spartan; whatever happened at High Peak is still going through your head." The voice called out again, "Tell us what happened!"

The Blue Spartan IV growled angrily, he had been dragged to this interrogation right after the events on glassed Trident. And then he began to tell and relive his old memories. It had all started with the one mission, him and his squad; a five man squad of Spartan IV soldiers, with a simple objective to secure and assist a UNSC Frigate over a forerunner discovery. The Covenant had shared the discovery for a short moment, keeping faithful to the Priority 2 Agreement. However, the sighting of a second covenant ship had caused tense relationships, especially when the new Supreme Carrier had declared war on them and killed half his squad in a single swipe.  
Gabriel's involvement in the issue had ended as soon as him and a squad mate had gone head to head against the forces in hopes to halt the uncovering of the forerunner site; which could lead to dramatic and terrible outcomes, and that's where everything had turned to hell.

"So you say that the Sangheili Zealot named Mort'ang, betrayed your squad and killed two of your team-mates?" The voice called out, "This is old news Gabriel, what happened to you?"  
The Spartan clenched his armoured gloves as he remembered what had attacked him from behind, the massive black elite they named 'The Harbinger of Storm'. The creature had wasted him, enjoying every second as it broke the Spartan's bones and finally sliced his arm of with its energy reaper.

"Yes and what happened then? How did you make it out of that situation?"  
Gabriel stopped for a second before slowly replying, "A pelican came and picked me up, took me back to the Red Dusk and immediately patched me in for medication and healing operations."  
"Stop!" The voice called out, "The Harbinger Gabriel, what happened to him! What did he do to you!?"  
The Spartan IV stood up immediately, roaring as he paced around the half destroyed desk, "He took my arm and laughed as I saw my best friend get decapitated in front of me! What more do you want!" his voice was loosely based around hysteria.  
Another voice took over, a calmer and more resolved voice, "Very well, go back to your quarters and prepare yourself for final dispensation. That suit belongs to ONI now."  
Gabriel growled but complied, walking outside the opening door quickly and leaving the interrogation behind.

**Meanwhile**  
The phantom swung through the low atmosphere slowly, going up into the waiting hanger bay of the large Covenant Corvette 'Reconciliation of Lies' that was amassed behind the large planet of Trident; it was followed by two small shuttles that entered the hanger bay doors together.

Gas oozed out of the purple vehicle as it landed slowly, unloading the collection of Jiralhanae and Kig-Yar scouts as well as the Havoc Nukes that they were carrying. They unloaded all of the large cylinder tubes from the shuttle, moving them to a secure location.

Finally the golden zealot jumped out of the vehicle, it grabbed at the purple blood that was weeping through his lower torso. Two bullets resided in his flesh, two bullets that he would have to pull out himself; or risk the dishonour of having a doctor spill his blood on the floor.

He walked up to the communications terminal inside the hanger bay, activating it to all the piloting operators in the cockpit of the large vessel. Sangheili stood at the deck with other storm soldiers; including Grunts and even Brutes now.  
"Brothers" He spat, "Secure all Havoc nukes in the lower bay and make sure the radiation doesn't interfere with our generators."  
The pilots nodded once, some of them honking their affirmation.  
"And ready the Reconciliation of lies to slip-space jump directly." Mort'ang continued, grumbling as he ripped one of the bullets out of his belly; he wrapped it up quickly with a bandage as he spoke, "Get us to the Thunder, all orders will be portrayed through me for any more movements."  
"Yes your excellency" They all spoke together, exactly how Storm had trained them to do.


	11. Chapter 11

Gold light emanated from the slit skull of the Guardian's skull, its visor snapped back together quickly as it patrolled the Forerunner site. It held a Promethean large light rifle in its right skinny arm, the other arm dedicated to holding a massive golden cleaver of a blade. A set of golden lights blew quickly from its back thruster, propelling it forward as it jumped on top of the orange and black shuttle site. It said nothing, it thought nothing; all it really was created out of was simple regulated collective thought process.

The Sangheili warriors watched it patrol the forerunner site menacingly, refusing to let anyone inside to study or grab anymore vital forerunner devices. They were unclear on how to proceed, letting orders come from an authority figure soon enough.

**Meanwhile**  
The golden monitor slowly hovered through the covenant ship, with two Promethean guardian's at either side of him; he was following the Hierarch and enjoying himself heavily as he watched the covenant creatures pass through.  
"A small collection of species amassed together inside a type 36 class vessel, oh how this is interesting." Testimony relayed to itself, peering through different windows as it followed the Prophet of Storm through to the communications outlook.

Finally the entire possession stopped abruptly, over a small energy pylon that jutted out from the middle of the symmetrical room. The Hierarch activated a couple of small pads on the data cluster, letting his large spindly fingers reach over the orb.  
A large 3D replica image flashed out quickly from the orb, reaching out to all corners of the room; star systems and planet replica's flashed bright blue in the huge set of universe's, constellations and structure fragments. The prophet watched the massive set of lights with something close to amazement and wonder, like he always did as he observed over the stolen map of the world.

"This overview is of forerunner design." Testimony spoke slowly, his voice filled with bewilderment as he slowly zoomed around the room like a gold light bulb, "How did you acquire this device may I ask?"  
The hierarch nodded once, "This gift was given to us by the gods, to better aid us in our progression through to the great journey as well as the Legendary Mantle."  
Recognisable Barrier of Testimony beeped loudly twice before turning around and facing the prophet of Storm directly with its one golden eye, "The mantle…the mantle was supposed to be given to the…Apologies, my memory banks are starting to fail. Is there anything you require of me?"

The Harbinger walked up right outside of the room, two large golden Promethean's stood at guard outside it with wary looks and formidable cleavers on their left arms. The black official did not try to enter, knowing that he would be called in very soon.  
"Oracle, tell me; inform us of the hidden passage set out by the forerunner fathers?" Storm spoke slowly, letting the situation start to excite him.

"Of course, data pulse 54 is based on the codename 'Hidden Passage'; it is one of my priority functions that I can remember." Testimony added brightly, pleased to be able to assist the Hierarch with such important knowledge. He zoomed up and flew into a small 3D cluster of stars around a heavy and large central sun; a small beam of gold light flashed out and activated a hidden section of the map quickly. Suddenly in the middle of two planet structures, a small 2D golden circle had been framed and categorised.

"Installation 03, fully primed and ready for preparation." It spoke energetically, as if he knew exactly what the Storm wanted.  
But the Hierarch replied, "I do not wish to fire the halo's, I want the information hidden upon it to be retrieved immediately. Target the holy library at the halo please Oracle." He smiled, satisfied.  
"Done!" Testimony replied cheerfully, "A word of warning, a heavy mass of ships has been characterised on the Installation's sector."

Storm ignored him, he called in the Harbinger efficiently; letting the hand walk in and stand by his side once more.  
The black elite noticed the golden ring, and knowing of the plans set by the Hierarch he spoke, "Do you wish me to change our course straight for the holy temple?"  
A long and spindly arm was lifted quickly to stop the warrior, "We do not possess the time, you shall travel there alone to fulfil your quest."  
"Yes your excellency, I will fuel a Seraph as soon as time allows."

"No need" Testimony spoke slowly, descending down until he looked the Black Elite straight in the face, "My Guardians have the means to transport you to the library on Installation 03 and to watch over you, a word of warning however; these Installations carry a great risk and my Guardians will not hesitate to resort to primal regulations to halt your attack…if you try to do so."

Before the Harbinger could respond, the two Guardian Prometheans grabbed him from behind; teleporting as they did so. All three figures vanished in an instant.  
Testimony looked back to the prophet, "Now, I believe you owe me something."  
"Our data cores are right this way Oracle, follow me" The Hierarch mischievously spoke, planning on the whole event and future.


	12. Chapter 12

Complete darkness answered his call; the strange sensation of teleportation was still rolling in his large stomach. The large elite considered sitting down quickly and retching the last consumed meal all over the holy floor in whence he had teleported inside. But he had a duty to fulfil; he was here to grab the inscribed coordinates and leave before anything discovered his presence.

The Harbinger stood up slowly from his crouched position, his armour was still completely intact as was the energy reaper that had been issued in his back holster. He was inside a large silver hall with simple forerunner symbols and blue lights; there were no living or forerunner creatures in the entire massive corridor.

The forerunner structure was clearly inside the interior of the Installation 03 as it was still breathable to the elite; many of the Halo's the Storm covenant had encountered did not contain any oxygen for them to breath. This specific halo had been documented to have a highly toxic mesosphere with a volcanic terrain.

Suddenly two golden promethean Guardian's appeared in front of the Storm official in a symmetrical explosion of yellow light. They squawked to each other slowly, the helmet slits opening slightly and revealing golden loose matter. Finally they scoped out the area and then turned back, gesturing to a large door to the right with their massive blades on their left arms.

The Harbinger walked up and entered the strange hallway on the right; letting it withdraw horizontally and revealing the holy room ahead. Three small flying objects passed through the new room, they glanced towards the new intruder critically with their small triangular trio of arms and head. The sentinels opened their arms slowly at the elite before they realised the two Guardians were standing and defending him. Therefore the small forerunner devices decided to continue their menial tasks and leave the new creatures to their own fate.

The Harbinger continued walking, ignoring the devices that hovered around and staring intently at the doors that entered into the holy library and temple. As he reached the large doors, he could hear voices on the other side. 'Human voices' emanated from the outside of the door, revealing the simple prey to the massive black elite.

He pulled out his energy reaper quickly, activating the harsh energy symmetrical blades into a massive replica halfway between an axe and a scythe.

**Meanwhile**  
They all stood around the memorial centre, bowing their heads in memory of their fallen team-mate together. His body lay in a large burial procession, surrounded by the living ODST's who had come to pay their final respects before parting ways.

Robert walked with the sergeant named "Grey White" before he changed direction and started to speak to 'Thresher' the sniper of the squad, also the ODST who had been brutally attacked by the raging Spartan IV down in the battle.

"You sure you're ok Thresher?" He spoke solemnly, letting his genuine care for the sniper to slip past his guard and enter his tone. They both entered the armoury bay where the ODST's usually got suited up before a mission.

The ODST sniper nodded simply, removing his large silver visor from his head and placing it down in the large locker bay door. Robert could tell he was still shaking and acting nervous after he had been assaulted by such a powerful and angry force. His chest had been bruised heavily due to the rampaging Spartan IV; and he knew that the sniper wouldn't be here if he personally hadn't stepped in the way and defended him.

"Listen Thresher, I know you don't want to talk but what happened wasn't your fault? That Spartan was a freak accident gone wrong, and I'm going to make sure he won't even look at you again."

Robert left the room, glancing at his nervous and badly broken team-mate as he started walking towards the private quarters that belonged to the blue Spartan IV.

He crossed pass a small squad of marines swiftly, entering the final ventilation corridor that led straight to Gabriel's private room and current location. The corridor was very dark; it was if the lights refused to work around such a dangerous and demented individual.  
The ODST swallowed his fear, walking though the darkness with a solemn promise and vengeful heart; the only thing he could hear was the steady thumping of the Red Dusk's engines.

Everything else had been quenched.

Robert took a deep breath as he saw the large doors that led to the Spartan's private quarters; he noticed that they were created for something a lot taller than the normal human being, bulkier as well.

And then he walked inside, one hand on his belt and the other one firmly grasped on his UNSC class Magnum.


	13. Chapter 13

"Are we headed on course private?" Her voice called out as harsh as a whip, straightening everyone's postures as they realised she had entered the large cockpit of their UNSC battle cruiser "Red Dusk."

One of the pilots hurried to answer her, "Yes ma'am, all slip-space drives are ready to mimic and undergo any move the enemy corvette will try to do." He replied, triumphant with all of their progress in the matter, "If they try to jump anywhere, we will follow them without delay or any issue involved."

Lieutenant Drafter observed the large purple covenant corvette slowly, "Good" she replied without truly thinking the word up before she said it. The "Reconciliation of Lies" was still hovering over the ruined cracks of the human colony of Trident, and it was still being watched by the hidden human battle cruiser. She could remember the enemy ship; it had been allied up with the UNSC frigate 'Wary Warden' in order to survey the forerunner wreckage in peace. Of course, that didn't work out to well when the forces of Storm decided to poke in, and it didn't help that the rogue units known as the Falconer's had allied themselves with this large faction of religious hierarchy.

"Ma'am! The Reconciliation of Lies is preparing slip-space jump!" A pilot screamed out, the red icons on his monitor flashing rapidly.  
The Lieutenant watched as the corvette started emitting a large collection of purple gas out of several steam ventilations throughout the entire vehicle.  
Then she spoke softly, "Game on."

**Meanwhile**  
A scream alerted them all that terror and danger was awaiting, they shrivelled together as the long lasting sound was violently quenched and stopped as abruptly as it had begun. The lead scientist swore to himself before looking back in the general direction of the set of corridors that led to their parked Pelican; an escape vehicle.

All four of the scientists had been immersed in the runes, flashes and symbols of this great and holy library for the past three weeks now. Every day they would return and catalogue everything they could before the eventful sunset reached them, which took a while as the days were so much longer at Installation 03.

The forces of the UNSC had spent almost four years at this ring, first working to disarm it and neutralise the deadly capabilities it possessed, and then using it to harness different forerunner advancements to their own technology.  
Even this day had gone right to schedule, all four scientists filling their quota on translation and discovery techniques when it came to the forerunner symbols of the 'Holy Library'.

But then the doors had opened, with no UNSC personal on the other side; instead a marauding massive black elite had rushed in and cut open the belly of a scientist; dragging a second man with its spare taloned paw through another forerunner door. The scream of the man had continued all the way, until something had stopped him from emanating all forms of noise.

The Harbinger carried the human across his large right shoulder pad as he entered the interior nest of the massive forerunner holy library. Columns of pillars stood in rows at either side of the huge elite, all of them emanating different hue's and symbols.  
A groan escaped out of the foolish human's voice box, causing the black Sangheili to chuckle at how weak these creatures really where; it was interesting that they could ever stand against the might of the Covenant, but not for longer. The Storm warrior walked past the columns, noticing that human lights and power cores had been scattered around the large room.  
The Harbinger spat out in disgust at the notion of humans standing in such a holy place, he would eradicate every single one of them if it weren't for his orders and allegiance to the Prophet and Hierarch of Storm.

Then finally the massive black Sangheili warrior walked into the central dome of the large library, he searched around for a terminal to download information or any glyphs that could inform him of the blessed coordinates that had been coded as "The Hidden Path."  
Two golden flashes sparked from behind him, the formidable duo of Guardian Promethean s had returned to overlook and assist the Harbinger in his granted quest.  
Rage almost crossed the Elite's thoughts as he could not seem to locate the hidden coordinates, but then finally he saw them. A heavy set of stairs that led up to a stone pedestal in the absolute centre of the entire symmetrical holy library.  
Harbinger walked up the stairs quickly, his heavy boots finding it difficult to gain leverage over the small steps but eventually he made it up to the pedestal. The stone had been cut out of something, a fragment of a lost civilisation or planet? The Harbinger did not know nor did he care, all he was interested was in the symbols on top of the pedestal.

But they weren't there, instead of two large symbols; the stone pedestal had been horrifically scarred and cut through the middle with a crude weaponry; removing the coordinates and leaving him with nothing.  
The Harbinger roared in complete fury, punching his massive tight black fist into the broken stone and letting more cracks spark from his knuckles. Golden matter erupted aggressively as the Promethean's saw the horrific damage that had been left, as well as how the Harbinger had reacted.

"Human! Where have you taken the Hidden Path?!" Harbinger roared in the scientist's eyes, letting his large set of mandibles frighten him.  
"What are you talking about?!" He replied, terrified out of his wits at the massive black elite that was holding him up and screaming at him.  
Rage overcame the Sangheili, he roughly lifted the human and forced him to face the broken pedestal, finally the pathetic species screamed, "The symbols were taken over a year group by a group of ONI specialists!"  
"Where!?" The harsh voice roared, spittle flying and smacking the human in the face. The Harbinger held the scientist right over the edge of the pedestal, threatening to drop him down to his injury or even death.

"I don't know!" it screamed in fear, trying to grab at the pedestal and save himself, finally the human urge and instinct for survival kicked in and he admitted, "The ONI capital, Genesis II; please just let me go!"  
Harbinger finally relaxed, know he knew where he had to go; and maybe the Prophet wouldn't be pleased with the news of the destroyed pedestal, but at least they knew where to go.

And so he let the scientist clamber onto the remains of the stairs, it breathed a sigh of relief and crouched down in fear of the large elite.  
"You're going to let me go?" He moaned out loud, relieved but completely confused.  
The Harbinger continued down the stairwell without replying, finally he met up with the two large golden Promethean guardians who had been waiting for him.

Then he looked up and stared the human right in the eyes, "I would never betray my own words, and neither would I betray the words of another; even if it rolls from the tongue of a human."  
And suddenly, all three entities vanished in a large explosion of golden light; leaving the human scientist to slowly step down from the stairs and retreat to his colleagues.


	14. Chapter 14

"Only then may you die at my hand…" The voice recording completed its transaction, slowly looping over the same conversation and sounds of battle over and over again. Its transmission issued from a small desktop that was hooked into the pipeline server of a broken blue Spartan IV helmet that laid on its own at a table.

Lucifer watched over the video, remembering the horrific events of 'High Peak' and its recuperations to the remains of Kilo – Foxtrot 14. Now things were starting to fall into place, his team-mate had been acting erratically ever since the murder of Michael; but it was not just that, it was something else that had broken the blue Spartan IV. It was the fact that Gabriel's existence had hung on an edge of the Harbinger's mere willing to create a challenge for himself.

The Black Spartan looked down and de-activated the video playback; he paused to himself in shock and unknowing ability in how to fix this situation.

**Meanwhile**  
Robert entered the small confidential private quarters, the magnum held tightly in his right hand and hidden behind the small of his back. He surveyed the entire room, looking around the simple table and chairs with a bed in the corner. A sense of familiarity ran through the ODST as he saw posters on the wall, unlike Robert however; the Spartan's posters hadn't been looked after for a while as they had fallen to the ground.

The large genetically augmented soldier lay in his bed, completely still and making no noises as he slumbered away in the presence of the ODST. Robert fell awkward in his position; he couldn't threaten a sleeping man normally, at least not without the Spartan reacting as if he was going to be killed.  
A sharp noise sounded from behind him, the ODST spun around quickly and checked what had moved from behind him; which was nothing, apparently.

Robert turned back to the front, to the alarming appearance of the augmented Spartan IV that had stood up immediately without a sound and was standing upright in a powerful stature.  
Gabriel didn't make a sound, he simply watched the ODST silently; waiting for the armoured soldier to make a move against him.  
"Are you here to kill me?" He finally asked, "Because that won't work very well for you."

Robert swallowed loudly, noticing that the super enhanced warrior was at least two feet taller than him, and alot broader.  
"I'm here to tell you that I don't care who you are, I don't care what you've done and I don't care about you at all, if you ever go after my squad mates like that again…I will issue in a complaint to command." Robert reported, confident in himself.  
The Spartan IV laughed harshly, stepping forward, "You brought a gun here to tell that you're going to tell me off?"

"This isn't for you; this is for my protection."

Gabriel paused, unsure what he meant; but then he remembered the horrific events of how he had almost strangled the hell-jumper sergeant and beaten another to the inch of death.  
"I understand" He spoke slowly, "Really I do, and don't worry about me anymore; you won't even be seeing me after next week. I'm being decommissioned…I guess someone finally realised that I was a hazard."

The ODST lowered his gun a fraction, he was unsure of the Spartan but also starting to feel sorry for him at the same time, then finally he asked, "You weren't always like this, where you?"  
Gabriel lowered his gaze down to his eyes, piercing through his visor and staring intently at him; he paused for a long time before responding, "I used to be like you, I used to defend my squad mates down to the last bullet when I needed to." A bitter tone was creeping into his voice.

"Then what happened?" Robert continued to slowly uncover the Spartan's past, trying to crack through his tough outer shell.  
The Spartan IV coughed once, "I guess the last bullet didn't work, I lost my team and my brother down in the hell of High Peak, and I lost apart of myself down there as well."  
Robert cocked his eyebrow, he had never thought a Spartan was actually capable of feelings or emotions the way the rest of humanity was, "And then what happened?"

Gabriel looked up again, this time anger residing in his face, "Nothing happened! I lost Ureal, Raphael and Michael; what can I even do now; if you can't even save your closest, then what can you even do or say about yourself!?" he roared, less to the ODST and more to himself.  
The Hell-jumper looked at him curiously before replying, "You can honour them, you can make sure their deaths not stay in vain by standing up and doing something about it."

Rage controlled the Spartan IV, sending him into a fit that resorted into punching the nearby wall in complete fury; it dented in completely at his strength. The ODST raised his magnum in fear, he really didn't want to use it; but he would do what was needed to survive.

Then suddenly a hand appeared on Robert's shoulder pad, it was a black armoured glove that pushed him back out of the door quickly. The ODST spun around and saw the other ONI Spartan IV defending him from the rampaging soldier.  
"I'll take it from here" The golden visor called out to him, shoving him out of the door and letting it sizzle shut immediately.


	15. Chapter 15 : The Healing

Lucifer entered the room swiftly, armed with new information and an undeniable resolve to fix this situation once and for-all, he looked around and found his team-mate lying on the floor in tears and sets of rage. Finally the Sniper looked up and noticed him.  
"What the hell do you want" Gabriel cringed as his team-mate loomed over him, his hulking armour ever so present and forbidding. A silence answered him, slowly the black Spartan crouched by his friend and grabbed him by the shoulder, helping him up.  
"I'm here to check up on you." Lucifer replied slowly, a dumbfounded truth emanating from his voice as he prowled around his set of destroyed quarters, taking it all in.

"Yeah you don't have to …wait are you talking now?!" Gabriel spoke confused; the other Spartan IV usually never spoke outside of a combat situation.  
"I have to, there's no-one left to talk for me." The black Spartan replied, truth renounced through his statement almost bluntly. Gabriel nodded quietly, he knew exactly what his team-mate was talking about.  
"So why are you actually here?" He continued to interrogate the armour clad soldier. The sight of his team-mate was starting to inflict memories on him, memories that were to be stored away and forgotten.

"I know what happened to you at High Peak, I know the Harbinger spared your life to boost his own ego." The harsh statement ran through the crippled Spartan like an arrow through flesh.  
Gabriel didn't reply, letting the information sink into his system to no avail; he didn't care if his team-mate knew or not, he didn't care about many things anymore.

But the Black Spartan continued, "We need you, more then you know."  
"Need me for what?" He replied, although he could already guess the answer, there were only so many things a former Spartan was good at.  
"The enemy is moving Gabriel, Storm ships are gathering under the banner of their fleet. The Thunder will not need long before it strikes, and strike it will." Lucifer replied, letting his words carry a heavy emphasis.  
"And what do you want me to do about it!" Gabriel roared at him, letting through some of his pent up anger and stress out onto him.  
Lucifer continued to watch over his fallen friend, noticing how nauseated and paranoid he really sounded, "I want you to fight Gabriel, I want you to stop acting like an emotional wreck after what happened to Michael!" He roared at him, trying to batter his friend's head in with the truth.

The unarmed and unarmoured soldier ran at him, grabbing him by the neck and shoving him against the wall with the help of his powerful robotic arm and enhancements. For his part, Lucifer didn't move an inch; he simply let it happen as the sniper screamed at him.  
"How dare you! I lost everything that day; everything and everyone!" He yelled into the golden visor of his team-mate. He tightened his grip menacingly, almost seeing the black armour of his friend as the armour of the Harbinger; and that angered him.  
Lucifer managed to cough out, "You didn't lose me."

Gabriel fell backwards and slammed into the floor in shock and complete loss of words, and the he started to weep out all the anger/sorrow and depression he had ever felt over the events of High Peak and afterwards.  
The black Spartan stood over him, looking down at the weeping man that used to be a super-soldier and a resistant warrior in the eyes of all there peers.

And then he lost all patience.

"Get up!" He roared, grabbing the soldier by the shoulders and ripping him upwards, "What has happened to you! You used to be a warrior of peace, a Spartan of the order and a Messiah to all men!"  
Gabriel tried to sit down again, "You know what happened to me."

"Oh don't you dare!" Lucifer yelled at him, pulling him up roughly and smashing him back into the wall so he wouldn't sit down.  
And then the Black Spartan roared in his face, "I know what happened to you was tough but you have to get the hell over it Spartan!" He slapped his face harshly, waking the soldier up from his depressed memories. "You have a duty; you have an honour to yourself and what used to be our squad!" He punched the unarmed solder straight in the gut, making him almost cough out in pain and tears, "I won't have you walk around naming yourself a Spartan of the UNSC with that aptitude, and if you won't do it for me, do it for Michael!"  
And then he released him, sending Gabriel sliding down the wall and landing straight ceremonially on his arse. Lucifer left quickly, in something close to disgust and pity; not even closing the door or flicking the light off.

Gabriel felt himself nearing tears; a droplet scooped from his left eye…but was immediately quenched and dried. He stood up slowly, letting his muscles and bones operate as they should have; and then he cracked his neck from right to left. Then he quickly gathered his heavy suit of UNSC armour and stuck it on himself, not requiring a machine to fix on his armour. He grabbed the blue chest plate and squeezed it into place before finally sticking his large helmet on.

He was ready for hell.  
He was ready for the Harbinger.


	16. Chapter 16

"The Thunder is amassed your Excellency; almost all of our ships have been amassed over the sector of the human filth." A pilot spoke to the Hierarch quickly, his mandibles parting slightly.  
The Prophet of Storm watched over the small assortment of pilots in the Supreme Carrier "Infamous Fury", he had just received word that the Harbinger had come back with the set location of the 'Hidden Path' on the human planet of Genesis II.

Then he drawled out slowly, "Prepare the bombardment of the human filth, convene the Falconer leaders under the banner of Thunder, reconvene Harbinger to me immediately."  
"Yes oh mighty Hierarch, the Reconciliation of Storm is preparing slip-space jump to enter the fleet as we speak; victory shall be ours!" The pilots roared out together, content with their eventual victory over the humans; they issued commands to their underlings and quickly set out to initiate the massive Super Carrier's slip-space drives.

**Meanwhile**  
"Lieutenant Drafter, slip-space drive is at 65% mobility and advancing quickly; we'll be right after that Corvette in no time."  
The ONI official stepped up and circulated a monitor with the ship's generators and there eventual progression. She activated the defensive shield perimeters on the massive battle cruiser and primed all cartilage cannons for a full-auto firefight.

"Prepare a warning beacon for all USNC assests in the vicinity as soon as we exit slip space rupture, whatever the Reconciliation of lies is doing, it can't be good for us." She spoke up, watching the reactors hit overcharge as they reached the high aptitude of 87%.

"Affirmative, issuing a waypoint and preparation siren for all USNC and ONI specialised forces on board this cruiser; where not going in unprepared." Another operator confirmed as he informed the entire crew that a fire-fight might be going underway immediately.  
"Alright, preparing slip-space jump to unknown location with an unknown number of hostiles; this will be one for the history books, prepare radiation canisters for our immediate smoke screen." Drafter commanded them all, shuffling her dark hair as she braced herself for the slip-space travel she was about to do.

"Prepare the UNSC beacons! We are going in to jump in less than 5!" She roared again as the monitor flashed several numbers to her.  
"4…3…2…1"

A pause issued through the entire cockpit, as if they were unsure why the machine didn't work properly but then suddenly they all lurched backwards in a combined instant. The stars in front of the cockpit of the frigate vanished into a large blue temporary teleportation field that boosted them from a large sector of the galaxy to another one in less than three seconds. Monitors were screaming red icons as the entire Battle Cruiser finally exited the sparkling teleportation and entered a whole new realm.

The lieutenant stood up wearily from her seat, watching out through the large reinforced windows of the cockpit bay, a new set of location struck her quickly; the stars had changed position and two sets of planets could be seen in the far distant. It all looked rather beautiful, a large orange sun glared from behind the Battle Cruiser; letting the ship appear as if it truly were a "Red Dusk".  
She continued her gaze down from the constellations, almost mesmerised by the awe-inspiring view and the undeniable beauty of it all.  
But then she saw the covenant ships, and all the stars in the universe couldn't change the fact that she had put her game face on and readied herself for the fight of her life.

"Ma'am, we have a problem." An operator managed to stumble forward, his mouth gaped open as he gazed out and looked upon the massive armada that hovered a large set of miles away from them all.

"It's the fleet of Thunder" Drafter resounded to them all, taking a step back at even the sight of such a large force. There were over thirty Covenant Storm Corvette's that circulated the entire armada of ships, they constructed the bulk of the armada as the central ships were simply constructed out of massive Covenant Assault Carriers; the same vehicles that would glass planets from orbit and challenge the might of any UNSC fleet.

Then suddenly as she watched, another massive ship appeared out from a slip space jump; it was huge, at least double the size of a regular Assault Carrier and broader as well. It had been completely coated and customised for warfare in a way that UNSC pilots could dream about, heavy purple armour encased the entire vehicle; red stripes cutting through the monochromatic pattern and illustrating a set of words on the side, that later translated into a simple phrase, "The Infamous Fury".

"God help us all" Drafter spoke aloud, repeating the thoughts of every UNSC and ONI personal that sat aboard the Red Dusk and watched in horror at the 'Thunder'.


	17. Chapter 17

"Shipmaster Mort'ang" An underling major kneeled to him, its heavy red armour buckling down onto the heavy and powerful body of the Sangheili warrior; it held a vicious storm rifle in one of its unprotected arms. The Storm elites had been issued and given more powerful armour then the salvaged heap they used to carry after the events of 'High Peak' but they still preferred to reveal and unprotect their massive scaly forearms.

"What is it now" The Golden Zealot spoke slowly, his voice rumbling over the major as the heavily armoured mandibles parted and presented noise.

"We have a disturbance where we entered the Thunder your highness; some form of slip-space anomaly is corrupting our scanners and leaving us blind." The red elite continued, relaying the pilot's messages to the high class Zealot and Shipmaster.  
"Hmmmm," Mort'ang scratched his lower mandible, "the human filth comes back into the jaws of their doom; so be it. Inform the Storm Assault Carrier 'Razor' of this new anomaly, is that all?"

"Yes your excellency." The major bowed again and left the cockpit bay quickly, slinging his storm rifle onto the broad back holster situated in his red armour. The Golden Zealot wondered to himself as the Crimson elite left; personally he would have gone out with the 'Reconciliation of Lies' and meet the enemy head on, but his place was with the Thunder and he was tasked to report in to the Supreme Carrier 'Infamous Fury' with the chief members of Storm in order to discuss the new form and agreement between the forces of Storm and the rogue faction named the Falconers.

But he had no doubt, that whatever forces had come to stop them; they would stand no chance against the might of the Thunder.

**Meanwhile**  
"We stand no chance against that might Lieutenant" An operator spoke blankly, not caring for the consequences of speaking out of turn; it would be complete suicide to up against a force of over 40 large covenant vessels with nothing but one Battle Cruiser.

The Lieutenant watched over the massive spectacle of covenant ships slowly progress through the endless sea of black and gold backdrop, they were all heading towards the tight cluster of two planets orbiting around each other in the greater scheme of a massive golden sun.  
"Identify those systems pilot" She demanded as she watched the armada travel quicker to the lone planets; as they all spun closer, she could tell one was a moon orbiting a heavily overgrowth planet of green and grey mass; it was if the entire system was covered in mountain terrain.

"System identified as the new colony planet of 'Genesis II', currently undergoing first hand reservations and strict control of the first ever ONI capital of 'New Hemisphere'. The pilot continued to speak, reading of a charter as the information was carried on.

The Lieutenant roared and squeezed her fists together, "Inform them immediately of the danger heading there way! Make sure that they get all the help they can get, we can't risk this turning into another Reach!"

"Already transferred, however the message may have not been sent through; the covenant armada is creating a heavy interference, it's almost like a barrier."  
Drafter felt like swearing ouloud but toned it down quickly, "Keep trying, and if that doesn't work I need you all to patch into any USNC or ONI frequencies that are left and inform them of what's happening here!"

Another operator yelled out, "Ma'am, two Assault Carriers and a bunch of Corvette's have slipped of the Thunder and are heading straight for Genesis II!" This made sense, the covenant Storm wouldn't send all there ships to neutralise one major city; the air space would be horrifically crowded and the risk of a nuclear missile was too high.  
"Tell me that Genesis II has some form of anti-air defence systems in place" Drafter sighed, trying to reassure herself of the planet's safety.

"Affirmative Lieutenant, a heavy mechanised cannon is situated on the light side of the revolving moon; the base is called 'Shield' and is heavily guarded by members of the UNSC." The pilot replied, drawing up an image of a lunar base fortified all around a central cannon.  
Drafter nodded, "We got ourselves an objective now, get Lucifer prepped and ready to go. Issue a squad of marines, ODST's hell I don't care just anything that could defend that base. Its shield generators will hold out against any orbital strikes so the only thing to worry about would be infantry."  
"Yes ma'am"  
"And get us the hell close to that lunar base, the survival of Genesis II depends on that turret operating well and within the blast zone."  
"Affirmative!  
The lieutenant breathed deeply, she had made her move; now it was time for the Thunder to make theirs.


	18. Chapter 18

The Assault Carrier trembled through the slow and unforgiving black vacuum of space, small meteor's flashed by and smashed into its exterior purple energy shields, causing minimal damage but revealing a riveting effect of the existence of an invisible barrier. It was flanked by another of its sort, and surrounded by four simple Storm Corvette's. The leading Carrier had been named simply as the 'Razor', it had survived many battles and broken through the allegiances and ranks of mankind many times before; and now it would again.

Inside the large covenant carrier; a brute chieftain stood at the helm of the cockpit; Tangarus the Heavy of the Jiralhanae clans. After the events on the destroyed planet of 'Trident', the brute chieftain had been given his own Assault Carrier and army of Jiralhanae warriors in the place of his servitude and rank in the Falconer rouge unit (which now, didn't exist; as it all belonged to the Thunder). Tangarus was pleased with his immediate ranking among the forces of the Hierarch, but extremely furious with the large assortment of Sangheili officials and warriors in his place. He was also disappointed as he hadn't been given an audience with the prophet of Storm yet, but if this hunt went quickly then he would be given the right hand side to the Hierarch as he deserved.

'Razor' led the Assault Carrier and Corvette's straight into the path of the lunar base on top of the orbiting moon, the Thunder had known about the use of such a heavy mechanised turret and acted upon it. The theft of the human Havoc nukes were for this purpose, the plan was to distract the base named 'Shield' with glassing fire from above; then phantoms would drop in soldiers to carve their way into the base and place the havoc nukes right in the centre point under the massive turret.  
The entire base would be vaporised of the map within seconds, leaving the remaining Covenant Storm ships to swoop down and begin the invasion of Genesis II.

It was a seemingly, flawless plan in the Chieftain's opinion.

**Meanwhile**  
The red light beaconed them all to suit up, grab their gear and preferred weaponry; and board the UNSC pelican as soon as possible. It bathed them in all crimson light, foreshadowing the cruel and inevitable bloodshed and death that was to meet them on the lunar base of 'Shield'.

A resounding set of clicks disturbed all the ODST's who were preparing themselves for battle, harnessing their gear and restocking up on ammunition. The jet-black Spartan IV stood in the hanger bay doors with the red light heavily contrasting with his golden visor and usual darkness. He held a large UNSC Battle Rifle in both of his arms, and a heavy 'Jackhammer' rocket launcher on his back holster, he looked ready for anything that could breathe and shoot at him.

Another set of beacons flashed, alerting the soldiers that their mission was to be undergone in less than 10 minutes; the Pelican was already waiting for them to leave the hanger armoury and enter the bay.

Grey White roared at them all, "Come on maggots, we got spawn to kill and a base to save!" He cocked his regular shotgun and started progressing towards the pelican.  
Marko slowly put his helmet on, letting the silver visor slide shut before he commented, "Can't they start these home invasions a bit later in the morning, Jesus Christ."  
"Look me in the eye soldier!" The sergeant replied, pointing to the red crosshairs marked into his silver visor, "Come on lets go people, they aint paying us by the hour!"  
"They aint paying us at all" Another ODST grumbled, grabbing a Silenced SMG of the wall and sticking it into his thigh holster. Eventually the entire squad of ODST's and the one Spartan IV ran over and boarded the heavily reinforced UNSC pelican together.

They all sat away from the Spartan IV, all of them apart from Robert; who decided to sit right next to the quiet soldier and check his weaponry in order to fill the awkward gap between them all.  
"How is he?" Robert finally managed to ask, grabbing the shotgun from his back and cocking it back while rechecking the ammunition storage.

The Pelican started taking of, its jets thundering the vehicle forward through the bay of the Red Dusk's hanger. The large bird like vehicle exploded out of the large Battle Carrier like a bullet from a gun, descending quickly down to the base below.

"He's a lost cause, don't worry about him." Lucifer finally replied, readjusting his helmet completely so its HUD radar operated to its full capacity. He looked outside before the ODST could respond; a massive silhouette of inky black space met him through the reinforced glass window. A white and grey streak lay below them, the lunar base that was orbiting the system of Genesis II; and to his right he could actually see the massive beautiful planet. It was coloured and magnified to be almost as beautiful as the Holy Gospel had claimed the 'Garden of Eden' had been.

And then he saw the covenant Storm ships, the two symmetrical massive Assault Carrier's surrounded by corvette's who were also quickly descending down to the lunar base, but they were far behind and advancing more slowly; leaving the ODST's time to bunker down and barricade it before Storm showed their ugly faces.  
"I hope by the time this is over, he has really sorted out whatever's bothering him." Robert breathed loudly as he saw the attack force, one of the corvette's quickly speeding down until it got within range of the massive mechanical turret.

The large gun turned to its side slowly, moving to the right until it eventually aimed straight at the corvette with pinpoint accuracy. A red light issued through the large hole at the tip of the cannon; it charged up fully and then without warning or waiting, it fired a massive and spectacular bolt of white light that immediately shot through and impacted with the corvette.

Blue fire and explosive sparks immediately tore out of the corvette; it was completely rendered in two at the mercy of the large cannon that had just started to charge up again.  
"A little pay back? Finally" Lucifer breathed, his fists clenched and a smile starting to appear on his heavily worn face.


	19. Chapter 19

"Hot damn!" Grey White roared as the split ends of a massive covenant corvette ship slowly descended until they smashed into the surprisingly strong atmosphere of the moon that started to rip it apart. The UNSC pelican navigated quickly across the grey solid ground, hovering right over the barren moon as it made its way towards the lunar base of 'Shield'.  
It circulated in an 180 degree angle and slowly measured itself to the ground, letting the 11 ODST's and Spartan IV jump off and run over the grey wasteland so they could enter the base.

'Shield' was huge; it had been roughly sketched out as a simple fortification base that could have been encrypted from castles of the medieval ages. Every barrier and set of enclosed walls were built upright so the entire structure appeared a form of pyramid; the central point missing as a large gap in the fortification left room for the massive mechanised turret to open fire upon the Covenant Storm ships.

Guarded doors with heavily armoured marines with UNSC machine turrets met the small squad of UNSC soldiers, they ushered them through the gravitational lock quickly; oxygen met them on the other side, letting them breathe through the suit ventilation instead of the reserved pockets of clean air.

"This way sir's, the Chief Executive of Shield would like to speak to you." A marine ushered them through, walking past a heavy stainless glass that revealed weaponry and vehicles in some form of ventilation hanger bay.

Loud sirens were starting to blow as the ONI squad entered the primary facility watch, marines were running backwards and forwards with armour and weaponry; ready to defend their posts till the last man fell, because not just their own survival was held in the balance but the survival of over 20 thousand civilians that resided in the only city of Genesis II, "New Hemisphere."

The Black Spartan IV led the group into the command deck of the 'Shield' Base, a rather impressive man stood in front of him, dark eyes and a completely ridged posture ensured this executive had spent alot of time in the UNSC force.  
"Commander on deck!" An operator yelled out to the ODST's causing them to immediately salute and give their respects; Lucifer merely looked at the man and awaited his orders.  
"What is it?" The commander spoke, a grim jaw clashing together to pronounce noise, "ONI secrets keeping that arm from saluting?"

Lucifer sighed on the inside and saluted, he really didn't have time for this; the Storm ships would be glassing the site any minute now.  
"Good!" Enjoyment came out of the commander's face and tone as he finally turned around and addressed his entire force via a communications radio beacon, "All members of 'Shield' operations, I expect full alert on any covenant activity. Let's show them who they're dealing with."

Cheers resorted out from the crew, a small team of four operators sat in the large assortment bay right underneath the mechanised turret cannon; they controlled it together and aimed it around to fire as soon as the Storm ships reached range.

Suddenly an Assault Carrier descended extremely quickly, it transcended its own size three times over in a mere amount of seconds. The cannon started charging upwards; its gun ready to bring the massive shuttle down to its knees. Lucifer watched with fascination as the turret slowly reached optimal capacity and then suddenly; a blue streak emanated from the Assault Carrier and streaked down to smash into the base.

It was a particle beam that had one purpose, to transform a healthy planet into a combination of shards and glass.  
"Raise shields!" The Commander roared as he saw the light beam about to hit the lunar base 'Shield', someone complied immediately.

The huge torrent of blue light and fire descended quickly, until it suddenly impacted with some form of invisible barrier that circulated the entire base completely. However instead of absorbing the huge blow, it reflected it perfectly back onto its firer. It was a spectacular sight; a Storm Assault Carrier that was heavily glassing down on a lunar base; only to have the heavy shield's deflect it and fire it right back.

Purple fire and shards of metal through out of the sky as the Carrier suffered through its own bombardment, it was badly injured by the time someone on the ship had sense to cease fire. A huge line could be seen on the underbelly of the ship, the light had heavily carved in the right wing of the entire bird.

"Oooh yeah!" An operator roared from his console as he perceived the Assault Carrier's self-harm glass attack, however soon enough he returned to a neutral voice as he spoke, "Commander, we can't use the cannon while that cruiser is up in the air like that; our shields would deflect it backwards and shatter the whole base."  
The commander nodded, "Very well, wait till the Assault Carrier is at a safe distance before you lower those shields and start firing again."  
Lucifer stepped forward angrily, "Are you crazy? There not going to leave until this base is completely blown of the map."

"And how exactly would they do that? This shield is impenetrable against their fire; you saw what it did to them when they even tried to cross me." A smug look appeared on the commander's face.  
"Sir! We've got a heavy amount of phantom drop-pod's descending down, its seems like they wish to board the base and take it from the ground!" The operator screamed, icons flaring like mad.  
Lucifer nodded to the commander without a comment, turned to the squad of ODST's and nodded to them as well; then they all left without a word to say.  
They had a fort to hold.


	20. Chapter 20 : The Assault

Lieutenant Drafter watched over the radio transmissions of the USNC Lunar base 'Shield' from her designated cockpit seat in the large ONI Battle Cruiser 'Red Dusk.' The appearance of covenant Storm soldiers had notified her that 'Shield' would no doubt require more assistance via pelicans and drop-pods. She had already prepared a large squad of marines equipped with heavy weaponry and air tight suits with a limited oxygen amount of two hours.

But something was stopping her plans.  
"Covenant Corvette 'Reconciliation of Lies' is inbound ma'am; no sign of plasma charge or any form of weaponry yet." The operating pilot drawled out, "Interception course in less than five minutes."  
Drafter closed her eyes slowly, she was unsure if their ship could even survive the force of a corvette; and if they did then more Storm vessel's would be inbound in no time.  
"Prepare all forces in the vicinity that we are to stand our ground; every minute we can forbid our own destruction we give Genesis II more time." She spoke finally, standing up so she could witness the last few hours that her ship could survive.

"Inform the company down at Shield of our situation, we're making our final stand." She finished, stepping down from her post and walking among the operating pilot.  
"Not if I can help it" A Spartan IV voice communicated though her radio, it was the confident and powerful voice of Gabriel.

**Meanwhile  
**The outer-trimmed wall of the massive base of 'Shield' was heavily orchestrated on several layers of reinforcing metal; they were completely enclosed with simple potholes for rifles to pass through and fire upon any Storm invaders.  
The marines roared and covered the west side of the base heavily; they carried simple assault rifles and DMR as they watched out to the broken grey soil through their heavy vacuum proof goggles; they utilised the trio of machine turrets that resided on the wall as well as a massive protected gauss cannon turret.

A black Spartan IV stood inside the heavy battalion of the outer wall; the 11 member squad of ODST surrounded him with a heavy assortment of weaponry. Not a word as said as the unsettling lack of wind and air moved through the landscape.

Suddenly a large drop pod smashed straight into the grey ground, setting rocks flying upwards as it impacted heavily and unloaded its deadly cargo. A trio of phantoms descended quickly and unleashed its Storm horde; Sangheili warriors, Kig-Yar scouts, Jiralhanae Berserker's and Unggoy cannon fodder. A massive blue wraith smashed down into the ground as well, immediately propelling its hover technology and preparing itself to fire. The force walked forward slowly, not making a move or firing their weaponry; at the lead sat two golden Elite generals each equipped with a fuel rod cannon and heavily reinforced armour; every covenant member's helmet and armour had been customizably changed so that the helmet covered their face and protected them from the lack of oxygen.

But they seemed as formidable as ever. Lucifer swore to himself as he saw the massive armada of storm soldiers in front of them, and he knew that more were to come. Nevertheless, he had a fort to protect and the UNSC soldiers were counting on his leadership.

"They're going to hit this base like water on rock, make sure to cut em down before they have a chance to smash down the front door." The Spartan IV said to them all through the shared helmet com, "Marines! Aim!"

The two golden elite's stepped forward, one of them switching to change and grab the energy sword from his thigh holster. Then it raised its sword straight into the air and stabbed it forward, roaring out loud in a foreign Sangheili language. The other races screamed out of there heavy masks and rushed forward towards the walls, firing their weapons crudely without aiming as they amassed under a common banner and charged the fort without pause or hesitation.

"Open Fire!" Lucifer roared, letting the UNSC marines overcome their fear and immediately operate their weaponry to complete capacity. Covenant splattered back in numerous hues of different coated blood, but then they opened fire without remorse and marines were struck down through the narrow slits of the outer wall. Needle's and plasma bolts coated the entire wall in hundreds of explosions and sparks as the huge wave of Storm soldiers smashed down and hit the defences with a resounding smash.

Jackals started climbing the wall, somehow getting their nimbly arms to latch onto the outer perimeter; they squawked and managed to get themselves up into the hatch where gunfire was spewing out. The marines jumped back as a Kig –Yar scout landed in their midst's and ripped a switch of its upper chest armour piece. The piece was connected to four plasma grenades that were hewn into the Jackal's armour and now had all been activated at once.

The soldiers blew apart in a gigantic explosion and array of blue light and sparks; almost thirty soldiers dead due to the tactical ability of suicide runs. More jackals started combing the walls, trying to gain purchase; but now the marines nailed them down as priority targets and made sure to kill them on sight. One Kig – Yar unlatched his grenade satchel too late, letting the enemy snap him back with bullets to fly back into the horde of Storm and detonate.

Brutes roared and fired their crude spikers at the walls but didn't manage to get the long bladed bullets through the narrow rifle slits, leaving the berserkers vulnerable to being cut down by turret and assault rifle fire.

Suddenly a general stood up from the undergrowth rabble of Storm soldiers; he roared to the forces under his command and screamed something into the air at all of them. Every race immediately ceased firing for a second and threw their own grenade straight at the large wall and narrow slits; most bounced off but a few managed to arc perfectly and stick onto any unfortunate marine it could.  
Humans dropped down from the barricade, either killed by snipers, a lucky shot or the over exhaustion of grenades.

Lucifer quickly unleashed two jackhammer rockets into the midst of the Storm unit, successfully taking out a score of covenant soldiers but still leaving the base with an overwhelming number.  
"This is going to be a long day." He grunted as he threw his grenade down to the hellish pit and opened fire with his battle rifle.


	21. Chapter 21

"Keep firing!" A voice rang out to the marines, filling them with continued passion and rage to continue shooting amongst the never-ending hordes of Storm covenant. The gauss cannon struck true and smashed through several bodies at once as it pivoted from left to right while shooting down aliens. It was positioned perfectly over the western entrance of the 'Shield' base, stopping any covenant force from getting close to the barricaded steel door frames; bodies were stacked up by the hundreds and Jiralhanae were having to jump over their fallen comrades in order to rush the gate and try to smash it open.

Blue thin bolts cracked forward at the turret, the snipers trying to neutralise the one thing that was successfully keeping the covenant soldiers at bay. The rounds simply cut into or bounced straight of the heavy turret barrier in front of the operating marine, leaving him free to fire down on the Storm soldiers a little while longer. A large blue wraith cruised over, attempted to aim in order to quickly blow through the pesky turret; but immediately received two jackhammer rockets from the side.

The heavy outer-shell of the mortar firing vehicle cracked open by a huge split in the middle, a torrent of liquid plasma and sparks spewed straight out of the front into the ranks of Storm until the vehicle's engine combusted and sent shards of metal flying in every direction.

Enraged storm covenant rushed forward and opened fire on the turret in fury, a trio of green clad Unggoy warriors arming a set of orange fuel rod cannons and then firing them barbarically without aim or resolve in the estimated area of the turret. Green bolts arced through the surprisingly powerful atmosphere of the moon, letting four large rod's smash into the gauss turret and smash it beyond repair so it fell back down to the charred ground.

Lucifer reloaded his battle rifle as he saw the cannon fall to the ground, all marines blown to pieces around it but the wild fuel rod cannon; he watched back and saw the grunts had been killed by their own excessive use of the large orange weaponry; the overheated guns blew in their own handler's grip. The Black Spartan IV roared and fired his weaponry back at the never-ending formation of covenant, but the problem was that there were just too many of them.

"Shield control, this wall is going to be torn down in any minute; get all the vehicles you have to mass around the western entrance." Lucifer roared into his radio signals, letting the operators at the command base figure out the rest. He then looked down and grabbed a heavy sniper rifle from the ground and picked it up.  
An ODST ran up to him quickly, identifying his commander and yelling out, "There's too many of them! We won't last much longer."

The Black Spartan IV turned around and gave the Hell-jumper the USNC sniper rifle from the ground before saying, "We've got reinforcements coming in, and until then do whatever you can to hold these fuckers back!"

"Affirmative sir" the soldier complied, reloading the rifle and preparing to jump right back into the warzone with the never-ending number of Storm covenants. The exterior wall was still holding back the large number of invading aliens, but it had been so heavily encompassed with plasma burns that it was actually starting to melt and dissolve under the constant pressure.

Two more wraiths had appeared on the battle ground, but were wisely sitting back and not getting directly involved or in range of the wall's heavy armoury and weapon selection. They simply resorted to firing blindly upwards and letting the huge orbs of blue plasma smash down on the base.

Lucifer returned to firing back at the frontal assault of the wall, he noticed that the brutes and elites were starting to use throwable grav-lifts in order to boost themselves upwards onto the wall and all other soldiers who jumped of the small blue energy panels.

Two Brute majors threw down a dual set of grav-lifts and proceeded to jump up them, letting the extra boost allow them access to jump on top of the base's exterior corridor wall. Heavy thumps resounded on the roofs of the large exterior wall, marines faced upwards with their assault rifles and shotguns as soon as the first Jiralhanae swung in from above with two spike grenades in either hand.  
It roared as the overwhelming fire sent it flying right back out of the small rifle slit; brown blood continued to flow downwards as the brute smashed down into its force and detonated the spike grenades.

More soldiers immediately proceeded to navigate upwards via the use of grav-lifts, quickly throwing the equipment down and then rushing up the torrent of energy to fight the humans face to face. The small squad of ODST's had been cut down to six members over the eventual battle; but they horrifically continued to fire down on the forces of Storm even to their dying breath. The body count of the fallen Storm soldiers was beyond counting; corpses were left everywhere and were even stepped on and jumped over.

Then suddenly, just as the black Spartan IV smashed down his fist and crushed the life out of an invading Sangheili minor who had jumped up with the gravitational life; the horrific sounding of realisation came to all the surviving solders from a resounding scream.  
"There at the gate! There breaking it down!"


	22. Chapter 22 : The Green Fire

A twin set of large bulging blue balls of energy arced through the lifeless sky and quickly descended down to smash onto the large set of doors that protected the base from any intrusions; plasma, fire and metal sparked in every direction as the bolt cracked in and bent the door back slightly.

Another set symmetrical shots of large energy rounds cracked through the Wraith mortar and immediately seeked down like a trebuchet of old; another smash hit the wall and made it buckle under the constant pressure but it kept holding on.

"Get the vehicles right behind the wall, anything that blows that thing down will be neutralised as soon as they step foot in! Am I understood?" The Black Spartan IV roared to the UNSC soldiers, levelling his jackhammer rocket launcher straight to fire at the wraiths through the rifle slit.  
They yelled out in approval and hurried to go do his bidding, their armour shoulders and rifles weighing them down after several hours of complete fire-fight.

Meanwhile the wraiths kept firing the massive blue orbs into the air, when suddenly two Jackhammer rockets flew from the base and managed to smash right into the hull of the first mortar vehicle; it split open and sent plasma spewing out the front like water flow before it completely combusted and blew apart.  
A major roared and ran away from the steady torrent of plasma and fire as it splattered the floor, the red Sangheili sprinted up and met himself with the Golden General of the army.

"We can't hold this out; those wraiths will be shot down before they make a dent in that wall!" The major gasped out, his mandibles tired and weary.  
The General grabbed the inferior by the neck and roared, "If you fail to crush this force of heretics; I will display your gutted corpse for all to see!"

Suddenly another set of jackhammer rockets soared through the lifeless air, leaving a smoky trail until they descended down and smashed into the side of the second and last Covenant Wraith Mortar heavy vehicle. It blew apart in seconds.

Angered contempt overcame the large golden Sangheili warrior until it finally grunted and spoke, more to himself then to the major, "Give them the green fire."

**Meanwhile  
**"Spartan! We've got a new problem sir!" Robert called out to the silhouette of the black mark IV super soldier. The ODST corporal had hefted a sniper rifle in his grip and was currently aiming through the optimal zoom at new target.

A phantom was ascending quickly from the lunar base after dropping of a new weapon for the invading covenant force; it was a massive purple vehicle built on the large assortment of a huge heavy and guarded hull with four sets of massive mechanical legs jutting out in a crab formation. The 'Scarab's' face was patterned with a huge green turret that matched the weapon oriented completely on its back.

Lucifer looked through his battle rifle scope at the sight of the covenant storm warriors, that ceased firing and created a small gap for this mechanical beast to stomp through; and then they started roaring their approval in a frenzied and controlled fanatical stream of screams and thunderous growls. As the Spartan IV watched, the turret on the Scarab's face started to illuminate green light and was preparing to fire the green fire upon the gate.  
"Get back from the door!" The Black Spartan roared in fear and anguish, knowing that it would do no good.

Then finally the face turret's fired heavily; unleashing a massive green powerful bolt that thundered down the lane of covenant warriors and, without pause or hesitation; ploughed straight into the gate and released a tremendous set explosion of green light and smoke that lit up the lunar base for miles in any direction.

The exterior wall on the top of the gate was blasted off its hinges, sending UNSC marines and metal to fly into the covenant ranks as if they were descending from heaven itself. Both forces watched as the smoke lingered for a short while longer, until finally it left behind the image of a completely destroyed gate; it had almost been blown off its hinges and it barely resembled anything human made.

Triumphant roars echoed through the massive assortment of covenant soldiers in contrast to the groans of the human forces, then without any more question, the massive Scarab with started charging up its main cannon to fire again.

"Get to the gate!" Lucifer groaned, standing up and running straight for the vehicles that had amassed right behind the large destroyed doors; he saw covenant soldiers start to smash the gate open, readying it for the last volley of green projectiles.

The Invasion of the lunar base 'Shield' had begun.


	23. Chapter 23

A singular silver bullet, encased in fire and smoke, swung through the black emptiness of space and immediately flew straight into an invisible barrier of the covenant storm Corvette ship. Blue shielding flashed over the entire ship momentarily before another volley of rounds smashed into if from the side and sparked more flashes of light around the corvette.

The 'Reconciliation of Lies' stayed motionless, letting its shielding absorb the blows slowly until it finally decided to fire back and let massive balls of blue plasma fly out and smash into the direct hull of the 'Red Dusks' main engine. The battle cruiser racked back by the explosive volley as its entire barrier shields were absorbed and depleted with one simple plasma bolt.

"What the hell was that!?" Lieutenant Drafter roared as sparks descended from the large cockpit roof, the entire cruiser shook violently as another round of plasma rounds impacted roughly with the right wing, the metal dissolving roughly as the plasma eroded.

"Barrier generator is down! We can't defend ourselves without it," An operator shouted, "We need personal down there to start it running again."  
The ONI specialist swore out-loud, without the generator operating properly; the Red Dusk would be pulverised quickly without a word of complaint, fixing the shielding would be easy enough if she had engineers down there, but someone would have to cover them.

"Gabriel!" She roared into her microphone, "What's your location?"  
A harsh and quick message quickly reported in, "Hanger bay C, pelicans are fuelled and ready for dust off; any orders?"  
"Forget the pelicans, get your arse into a sabre jet," The Lieutenant continued, "I'm clearing you for flight deck Beta, a team of pilots will meet you there Spartan."  
A silence replied until finally he spoke, "Yes ma'am, moving to location." Confusion was etched in his tone, but he controlled his questions and followed through her command.

The lieutenant disabled her communications without another word, reading her Spartan IV's personal attributes had been enlightening; both of the remaining soldiers had been fully qualified with Sabre training.  
She may be able to save the ship, but only time would tell; well time and a bit of help from a Spartan.

**Meanwhile**  
Fragments of metal was flung all over the base floor of the lunar base, green fire was splattered along the outlier fragmentations, sparking in the light and immersing the entire atmosphere as some form of hellish nightmare. Red blood was combed over the small platform of grey floorboards; it mixed in with the silver bullet casings and frightening image of a deceased soldier; and all along the entire entrance sparked the continuous surges of green flames.

A black boot smashed down and completely obliterated a set of flames in one move, the armour belonged to the Spartan IV named 'Lucifer' who was just about to witness the start of the fall.

"Form up right outside the entrance!" He roared to the UNSC soldiers and vehicles under his command, gesturing strongly with his powerfully armoured right fist.  
Another explosion echoed from the outside of the massive base, it extended for almost a whole ten seconds; slowly smashing the remaining sections of the once impressive gate. The entire gate started to give way from the continuous level of ferocity of power that was spewed out by the Scarab vehicle situated outside the base.  
Then suddenly, it cracked open completely; letting green flames escape into the base and set the interior quadrants on fire. Smoke blocked the views of both the UNSC soldiers and the Storm covenant on the other side; letting Lucifer only guess what was to happen next.

One of the marines wept as the smoke settled and started to slowly clear, the others looked to each other in fear and longing ability to preserve.  
But Lucifer stood up, he grabbed an abandoned UNSC assault rifle from the floor and cocked it once, letting the rifle reload and wait at his command to fire.  
And then he spoke, "You are guards of the Lunar Base 'Shield', you are marines of the UNSC, and you are men of humanity! Is this how you will issue your last stand! Or will you fight, as men of freedom and of prosperity! No!"  
Marines looked back at him, with determination in their eyes and bullets in their selected rifles; large warthogs and a USNC heavy scorpion tank stocked up right to the smoke, ready to fire at anything that came through.

The Black Spartan continued roaring at them as they stepped forward, "You are soldiers of the Earth! No matter what comes through those gates you will stand your ground!"

A roar echoed from the marines as they stood their ground and challenged the force on the other side, and then a noise answered them; the steady growl of a covenant hunter.  
Then suddenly and brutally, the attack started.

Three pairs of massively large brutish warriors smashed through the reminiscent of the gate, through the smoke and into the midst of the human warriors; and the Hunters did not pause or hesitate to crush down their shields and rampage the force of humans with pulverising deadliness.

"Open Fire!" Lucifer roared to all members of the UNSC present, then watched as two large Mgalekgolo titans screamed together in a thousand voices and smashed down to the ground; letting stains of orange blood and worms surround them. The marines thundered their weaponry together, firing with the heavy vehicles in hope to stop the rampaging hunters in their tracks.

But they were smashed aside by the creatures; the hunters barely noticed them as they roared together in multiple voices and crushed the human rebellion roughly and efficiently.

However the marines would not fall back, they would not surrender; they would stand their ground.


	24. Chapter 24

"O Excellency, the human gates has been destroyed; victory will be ours." A golden holographic image appeared on the large cockpit display panels; it was of the general who was tasked with the infiltration of the lunar base 'Shield'.

The brute chieftain, and now Shipmaster of the large Assault Carrier 'Razor' swung his massive ape like skull forward, scratching his lower white beard slowly as he evaluated his position. The criminy of having to work with foolish Sangheili infuriated him but that could be dealt with later, so far the destruction of the human turret was going as expected; the sacrifice of those who had died on the battlements of 'Shield' would not be in vain after the night was done.

Finally, Tangarus spoke, "Prepare the reformation of mankind, as soon as you enter the interior occupancy of the base I want those nukes ready to blow them out of existence."  
The hologram replied, "Yes sire, we are progressing into the base as we speak; within minimum casualties I guarantee the nuclear missiles will be primed within three hours."

Rage overcame the Brute Shipmaster as he smashed his heavy fist against the cockpit mainframe and immediately thundered, "You speak as though I care for your life! Destroy all the humans and level that base; I care not for the casualties' needed for this victory."

"But your Excellency, the humans have shown impressive defences against our onslaught," "the hologram replied, its voice feeble compared to Tangarus, "The destruction of the gun may yet be delayed."

Tangarus didn't reply, he simply grabbed his shoulder pad armour and the gravity hammer from his back magnified holster; then without even a simple grunt he ran straight down from the cockpit to the hanger bay where he could grab a phantom and descend down personally.

**Meanwhile**  
"Pull back" Lucifer screamed within his shots, his assault rifle's rounds barely affecting the tide of the battle as the oncoming and never-ending amount of Storm covenant soldiers quickly and crudely stormed through and amassed throughout the base, "Pull back to the second level!

The familiar roars and screams of grunts, jackals, elites and brutes echoed throughout the entire base as the incoming formation of covenant warriors smashed through the marine line and started obliterating them with overwhelming plasma and spiker fire; most UNSC soldiers would die by plasma overcharge melting away at them until they couldn't operate their primary organs anymore.

One hunter had survived the original onslaught, it was rushing forward at the retreating soldiers and attempting to flatten the marines with its combined frenzy for blood as well as the anger over its fallen partner. A banshee flew overhead quickly, shooting a massive wave of blue plasma down at the diminishing army of marines before scattering.

The ODST's stood in the central point of the retreating army; their reinforced armour had protected them against the main onslaught, but of course as ever, even their numbers had been cut down to simply six remaining soldiers left.

Robert fired upon the never-ending horde of covenant warriors with his salvaged sniper rifle in frenzy as he retreated back up to the second level of the base; but no matter how many rounds he pumped into them, the storm warriors just wouldn't stop advancing. The Hell-jumper cocked his view to the right swiftly as an explosion rocketed the entire base; it was the UNSC scorpion that had suffered through the destructive and raw power of the Scarab's green fire; now it had swiftly been turned into a useless scrap of metal and flames.

He turned back to his left and watched the last remaining hunter smash down and crush another member of his ODST squad; this time it was Bull who had taken the brunt of the shield smash and had his entire chest caved in completely.  
He hadn't stood a chance.

Robert roared and fired full auto on the hunter, letting the sniper rounds simply bounce of the creature's shield and embed deeply into its armour. It roared in a thousand voices at once, rushing forward and preparing to crush down on the pesky ODST who had dared to fire upon it.

But then something stopped it, a Black Spartan IV by the name of 'Lucifer' rushed forward quickly in defiance and threw his last grenade at its feet. The hunter kneeled down with its shield and attempted to block the brunt of the blast with the ornate weapon; but it was a simple diversion.  
As the tyrant crouched over the grenade, Lucifer managed to jump over it swiftly and land square on its back; among the mass of orange worms and blood that was exposed without aid of the armour.  
And then with a violent passion, the Spartan IV grabbed at a huge central orange tube in the middle of the hunters core and ripped it out roughly; letting orange blood fly and cover him. Lucifer then stood up and jumped of the dying hunter, the UNSC fragmentation grenade immediately exploded and sent the creature flying backwards to its death.

And then before the Storm could rush them, Lucifer activated the secondary doors with a simple trigger on his chest piece; stopping them from entering and protecting the marines at the same time.  
But for how long would the door last?


	25. Chapter 25

Green fire smashed through second remains of gates, completely obliterating the minor obstacle, letting the covenant Storm warriors rush inside and swarm the entire first channel of the lunar base 'Shield'. A large golden prominent figure detached himself from the unstoppable formation of fanatical races. The Sangheili general walked over the destroyed ground of the moon, letting his mask protect him from the lifeless vacuum of space and the heavy gravitational pull keep him situated on the floor. His name was 'Bremat', the heavy hitter general of the Assault Carrier 'Razor' who had been tasked with the duty of breaking into the pathetic human excuse of a base.

A moan caught the General's attention, after twisting his massive muscular and vicious face to the side he managed to see the amusing sight of a marine on the floor, slowly dying of his wounds in a dreadful manner. Plasma burns burnt long, and the golden Sangheili knew that this human would take a long time to die, and it would be painful all along the way.  
Bremat ripped out his large ornate energy handle and activated it swiftly; letting a symmetrical bloom of blue energy explode out and form into a blade.

"Please just end it" The marine begged, his own helmet was starting to rupture and let in a torrent of vacuum that would undoubtedly kill him horribly. Bremat watched over the human slowly, letting his prescience inspire both fear and relief as he decided the best way to end the marine's suffering and continue on his way.  
But then he didn't.  
Bremat turned around without a word, letting the human gurgle violently while vomiting blood into the vacuum of space; the two pale eyes watching the elite walk away without a word or sense of decency towards him.

The golden Sangheili travelled ahead, staring upwards at the descending phantom that was about to drop of a very important set of cargo and personal that would no doubt change the tide of this ongoing battle. The green torrent of flames behind him started up again as the Scarab entered the 'Shield' base over the top with its massive legs and a powerful turret firing down on the marines bunkered down.

Finally the phantom dropped down onto the moon and unleashed its primary hanger doors, suddenly six Jiralhanae jumped out of the vehicle and landed heavily on the solid ground; many of the brutes carried together two large missile human canisters. They were led by a massive brute Chieftain that carried a gravity hammer and was equipped with black and red reinforced armour that protected Tangarus's face from the vacuum of space.

Bremat stood back as the procession of Jiralhanae spurred forward without a word, they rumbled after the Chieftain with a combined purpose.  
The purpose of finally destroying this pesky base, killing all those inside and continuing the plans of the Thunder under the command of the high Hierarch; Storm.

**Meanwhile**  
"Brace!" A marine shouted as the second last frame of doors buckled violently, green fire spewed out of the sides and onto the floor. Twelve soldiers rammed the door shut, trying to prevent the gate to be blown open by the unstoppable force of the covenant storm Scarab outside.

Lucifer helped the marines smash the door shut, adding his reinforced strength and weight to assist in the survival of the base; although in his mind, the protection of 'Lunar' was starting to become a fruitless task. The commander of 'Shield' had joined them with reinforcements a few minutes ago, replenishing the tired soldiers with new meat; but now they had all been pushed back to the second last courtyard. They were two gates away from the primary holding pen of the entire base; the covenant had advanced quickly and given no pause or collection of prisoners. The slaughter of the soldiers had demoralised the rest of the units, and the indestructible presence of the accursed Scarab wasn't helping; the UNSC numbers had easily been cut down to forty soldiers left, and they were either injured or completely demoralised.

The commander wasn't helping either, "The fortifications have failed, now all there is to do is wait" he summed up the scenario, acting defeated and weakened.

Lucifer shook his head and continued to block the door with his immense bulk, no matter how many columns would fall; he would defend the base and these men with his life. But the pointlessness of his position proved to be his downfall as another massive volley of green plasma smashed into the gate and immediately snapped it into hundreds of metal fragments, fire and smoke. The black Spartan flew backwards from the explosion and smashed straight into the opposing wall of the corridor that slowly led to the final door.

Lucifer slowly assembled himself and started to stand up to a crouching position, the other marines started to aim their rifles straight for the large gap in their defences that was currently covered with smoke and green fire.

Then suddenly a small figure jumped out of the smoke, it was a Unggoy minor that was sprinting through the smoky gap and carrying a plasma grenade in either large hand; it was shrieking loudly and allowing methane gas to escape as it sprinted straight for the marines on a suicide run.  
It exploded loudly, detonating the grenades as well as its own tank with a vicious anger; the blue and green explosion rocketed throughout the entire base; three marines were flung back to the wall without remorse, their limbs ripped away and the plasma sparks burning through their skin.  
And more grunts kept running towards them, shrieking loudly and preparing to detonate the grenades they carried in their large palms.


	26. Chapter 26

"Leaving Hanger Bay Beta under final dispensation, Sabre teams you have your objectives; good luck." The motorized voice spoke over the collected intercom; it annoyed Gabriel greatly as he did not just have to listen to just Drafter but also to mechanised voices of her.

He tugged back on the final lever of his large sabre, letting it drop to vacuumed lack of gravity control as he gained command over the vehicle. It had been nicknamed 'Bravo Niner' for the purpose of this particular mission, and its duty was to make sure the engineering operators could fix a barrier generator on the UNSC Battle Cruiser 'Red Dusk'.  
"Manual control override, Bravo Niner; your clear for field use" The voice continued, unlatching the sabre and letting it float right outside the large sabre hanger bay.

The Sabre flew along the massive battle cruiser without adjusting flight patterns while Gabriel looked outside and assessed the situation. Two large ships stood neck to neck at each other in orbit right in the middle of space, two systems laid to the right of the battle. Plasma bolts and fire reeked the black ink of space while the shuttles fired at each other, but despite the volleys of gunfire that was expressed; the sky was clear of any vehicles or fliers apart from the ten man group of Sabre airborne units that flew along the side.

"Orders Lieutenant?" Gabriel asked, he was unclear how to draw of the Corvette's attention properly, and he couldn't just direct his team of Sabre's to float around aimlessly.  
The reply was hazy but it managed to be patched through, "I want you to draw of its fire, distract it, shoot it; do anything you can to break its plasma of us and onto you."

A sigh escaped the Spartan IV as he realised his situation was simply the bait, "Yes ma'am" he spoke while directing the nine other sabre's with this information and starting the attack run on the large corvette 'Reconciliation of Lies.'

**Meanwhile**  
Men screamed at all sides, blood ran down to the solid grey floorboards, plasma and sparks erupted out of all corners and splashed together in an explosive array.

Put simply, it was complete madness and anarchy.

Lucifer fired the one weapon he still possessed, the USNC magnum, he raised it with his right arm and opened fire full auto on the invading covenant Jiralhanae warriors who had stampeded and started complete havoc inside the second last corridor to the base. The Black Spartan IV caught the horrific glimpse of marines falling to the brutal and ferocious force of the invading brutes, or getting obliterated immediately by the suiciding Unggoy minors who had gone kamikaze on the protecting soldiers.

"Pull back!" He roared once, hopefully letting the soldiers hear him before he moved back himself and started retreating to the final and last gate of the entire base. Some marines heard him and started running to the doors, he caught a glimpse of the ODST squad felling a brute before legging it back to the gate as well.

The joined force amassed at the gate, plasma and spikes smashing into the walls nearby and sparking the Spartan's golden shields roughly, they finally managed to get through and immediately started closing the doors from the covenant warriors inside the corridor. Lucifer looked back at the dying marines that they were deserting, but he knew there was nothing he could do for them and he had to take into account the lives of every other marine and ODST who had managed to survive until now.

"Wait!" A voice caused him to pause for a second, it was the commander of the entire base 'Lunar', he had somehow managed to survive the battle and now was sprinting back in order to get through to the doors.  
"Don't you dare close that door on me soldier!" He roared as he smashed down and grabbed either side of the large closing gates. The doors had paused for him to go through, but unfortunately he didn't stand a chance; as at that moment, a long skinny green bolt trailed through and smashed down at the back of the commander's skull. His entire head blew open in a mix of red blood and green smoke as the carbine round destroyed his interior skull in one single blast. A marine screamed as she saw her commander fall in such a gruesome and effective death.

Lucifer reacted instinctively, tapping the console and closing the door without a second thought. The gate shut together quickly, smashing down and crushing the remains of thee Commander's body before shutting down fully.

The Spartan IV sank down to a seated position, the marines around him moaning in agony and fear; while the ODST's grabbed weaponry and attempted to try to secure the final door. Overall, sixteen soldiers remained of the massive armada of soldiers who had once attempted to defend this base.  
Now they were all that stood between the never-ending horde of the Covenant, and the destruction of Lunar base as well as Genesis II.


	27. Chapter 27

"Firing auxiliary cannons at Covenant Corvette." The voice ran out to her, the Lieutenant pursued her lips and waited for the report that would issue in soon. After many unsuccessful tries to drop her opponents shields, and her own lack of barrier; the ONI specialist speculated on the notion of retreating from her current position. The downfall of this move would mean that the soldiers down on Shield wouldn't have any cover, indeed the only thing that kept Drafter fixated on staying her position was that she hoped the reparation of the barrier generator would soon be repaired. Anyway, to perform a slip-space jump; a ship required fully operational shielding and barriers in order to stay alive in the transaction; so no matter what choice she went with, they simply needed those shields back online.

"Ma'am, confirmed hit on the 'Reconciliation of Lies', shield is still operational." The operator replied deadpan.  
"Damn it" Drafter swore, "Continue firing all guns on any weak cracks you can find in that armour, and keep me posted on the current situation of the sabre's"  
The operators acknowledged her and continued their bombardment of the enemy shuttle, all too aware of the plasma cuts and injuries that as slowly cutting away at the battle cruiser.

"Ma'am! New contacts changing approach and heading straight for us!" Another operator yelled out to her, activating the large monitor so she could see what was bearing down on them. The image of two covenant vessels on a black screen filled the entire cockpit, one was a legendary Assault Carrier and the other was a simple Corvette; and they were both heading straight for the 'Red Dusk.'

Drafter felt like throwing up, her stomach churned as she watched the massive ships slowly advance to her position; without a doubt they would be onto them within ten minutes, and she knew that if her Battle Cruiser couldn't hold its own against one Corvette, then it would stand less than a chance against an Assault Carrier.

"Gabriel!" She roared into her radio set, "Do whatever you've got to do to fix that generator, as soon as it's operational; where getting the hell out of here!"

**Meanwhile**  
"Affirmative Lieutenant" The Blue Spartan sighed, he hefted the entire shuttle around completely so he was aiming straight for the corvette, the Sabre's thruster's burning through so he could thunder in at the lead of the squad and wreak havoc, "All call signs, this is Bravo Niner; I want a quick missile launch and then separation, bogies will be unleashed onto you in seconds so I want you guys watching your backs out there."  
"Affirmative Spartan"  
"Got it"  
Gabriel continued to speak as he unleashed a heavy set of *Jericho class missiles that immediately locked on and started to scream through space to smash into the corvette's barrier, "Remember the objective is to get the turrets to shoot at you, so keep flying in front of them and concentrating fire."

"Hoorah!" The pilots replied, unleashing missiles in the hundreds to thunder ahead and smash into the blue shields of the corvette, the destructive power of the collected missiles was enough to even falter the weak barrier of the 'Reconciliation of Lies'.

Gabriel separated from the group immediately and continued to fire upon the corvette's hull as the shields flickered on and off, "Lieutenant, the shields are ready to pop; I recommend you fire all of your artillery at a central focused point." He reported in as he weaved his sabre in order to dodge the massive bulging barrage of turret fire that had exploded out of the side of the corvette.

"Understood Spartan, keep at it; the engineers have just arrived at the generator and are starting to fix it." Her voice replied sharply, interference echoing in the background.  
Suddenly two large MAC cannon blast's erupted out of the 'Red Dusk's cannon, they spun together majestically and then smashed right at the centre point of the entire corvette. The light was massive and blinding for all present as the rounds detonated and completely detonated the corvette's shielding, the flash of light finally dissipated for the Sabre units; so they could turn their heads and see the vulnerable Corvette as well as the hundreds of Seraph fighter jets that were flying out of it like some swarm of hornet's nest.

"Bee hive is shaken, let's go loud people!" Gabriel roared, unleashing another set of Jericho missiles and starting to fire the large set of machine turrets to thunder down heavy bullets onto the incoming bogies.

The sabre's formed a line together, their twin sets of propulsion sending them forward straight into the massive numbers and force of the Seraph shuttles, missiles and thundering bullet fire spewed out of the sabre jets together, opposed by the heavy plasma bolts of the covenant ships and occasional green missile that attempted to seek in and neutralise a target. As the jets engaged in battle, the Red Dusk prepared to fire again onto the hull of the massive corvette; the huge rounds smashed into the purple metal and blew chunks out into assortments of red and blue fire; creating a spectacular but deadly view.

Gabriel's sabre shone through the explosion of fire as he descended down and fired his turrets to destroy another set of Seraph fighter jet's when he got the confirming message, "Spartan, this is Lieutenant Drafter; our shields are back online, pull back and prepare for slip-space jump" The ONI specialist transmitted to him.  
Then time froze of the Spartan IV, he remembered the many battles he had witnessed and been a part of; this one topped it of no doubt, but he still remembered the deaths of his comrades. The death of his friends, all because of this one Covenant ship.

"Ma'am, you have a clear shot; take it out!" He roared into his radio, he knew she could blow the enemy shuttle with continuous MAC fire without a problem.  
"Negative Spartan, we don't have much time; we need to get the hell out of here" Drafter responded, unbeknownst to him; she was considering the threat of the incoming Assault Carrier that was nearly upon them.

But then Gabriel made a decision, it was stupid and rash; but it was his decision. He looked right back at the shield less corvette and noticed the hanger bay's that the Seraph's were flying out of, he knew they would lead to a simple engine room; and if Drafter wouldn't do it then he would.  
"Negative Lieutenant" He replied coldly, swinging his ship around and starting to throttle it with afterburners straight for the hanger bays, "I'm taking this thing down."

And as simply as that, the USNC Sabre known as 'Bravo Niner' disappeared in the hanger bay of the covenant corvette ship.


	28. Chapter 28

"This is the end for us isn't it?"  
Everyone looked around to the marine who had just spoken, he was a small but well-built man that was wearing half destroyed regulation armour and carrying a UNSC magnum. No one replied to him, as no one really knew what to say apart from silently agree with the soldier.

A smash startled the whole group, the final gate was starting to break apart by a tremendous force outside; it sounded almost like the beat of a gravity hammer crushing against the door. They went back to cleaning their weaponry smoothly and making sure they were ready for combat. The turret laid inside the court bay, its engines could be seen from Lucifer's position; and he could guess that they were the primary targets.

"What are our orders?" The ODST sergeant walked up to him, his visor was still coated with the red crosshair over his eye but the hue was starting to appear all over his armour as well.  
The Spartan IV looked around at the few remaining soldiers in his care, slowly they had been pushed all the way until they had reached the pinnacle of their journey; and they were going to die for it.  
"Realistically, I want you all to survive; but I know that's not going to happen." Lucifer took in a deep breath, talking to a public audience wasn't exactly new to him but he still wasn't comfortable with it, "So I guess we should just go down swinging and try and take out as many as we can."

The marines nodded, they could guess that was the answer he was going to give, and so they restocked their weaponry and prepared themselves to stand alone against the unstoppable alien tide. Another smash startled them all, the door was starting to groan against the constant pressure.

"No" An ODST stood up, it was the newcomer Robert, he walked forward and looked at them all, "I will not stand idly by while these covies blow up this gun and then Genesis II, and then Earth!?"  
"There's nothing we can do soldier" Lucifer hissed at him.

Robert stared the Spartan straight in the eye and replied, "Yes we can, because we are soldiers of the UNSC; you said it yourself! We will never surrender and we will never back down! Accepting our doom is backing down! How can you not see that?!" He roared to them all.

"Then what do you suppose we do?" The timid marine asked him, anxiety in his voice but a new found courage starting to creep into his tone.  
"We can't hold this fort gentlemen, and we can't accept defeat from these rats outside our doors" Robert continued, "Therefore we must flee back to the Red Dusk and help Genesis II as much as we can, because this base is going to be toast in a few hours; whether we like it or not."

Lucifer smiled cruelly, "You want us to abandon this base? I'd prefer dying for a bigger cause."

"But your death wouldn't be part of a bigger cause; it would simply be part of a failure." Robert restocked his silenced SMG and raised his voice, "I want us to live to fight another day, I know that's not the most honourable solution but I guarantee it's the right one."

Another smash hit the door, letting gas into the room as one of the hinges broke free; the covenant soldiers were nearly inside. It was decision time.

**Meanwhile**  
The sabre smashed through the covenant barricades brutally, letting purple fire flow naturally in harmony with the monochromatic hue of the entire inside of the Corvette, 'Reconciliation of Lies.'  
Covenant soldiers ran everywhere in fear and panic as the human vessel crashed into the hanger bay violently, cracked open the hull of a parked Seraph and tore a hole in one of the walls before it finally stopped moving and lay still, smoking and restless.

A grunt slowly walked ahead of his comrades and armed his small plasma pistol, watching the destroyed vehicle intently and preparing to fire at anything that came out.  
Suddenly movement alerted him of danger as the canopy door of the vehicle was pushed open from the inside by a white robotic arm, the rest of the Spartan entered full view and immediately opened fire on the operating creatures; dropping them efficiently with his Designated Marksman Rifle. After the blue soldier surveyed the rest of the hanger he jumped down and landed perfectly on the purple ground, then with the resolve of a man with a mission; he sprinted ahead and exited the hanger bay via the corridor to the left.

He had a Corvette to blow up.


	29. Chapter 29

Tangarus stood on the other side of the large gate door; he wielded the massive gravity hammer in his arms and was repeatedly smashing it against the final door in a slow and steady pace. Four Jiralhanae minors stood behind him, they carried two large missile pods in their arms; the Havoc nukes that were to be used on the destruction of the base.

The brute Chieftain continued to hammer down on the door, he could feel it giving way and he knew that this objective and pesky base would be blown to hell in no time. The humans had most definitely surrendered on the other side, which left sport for him to give to his Jiralhanae comrades until they grew tired and the humans would be thrown to the Jackals. Tangarus smiled roughly and prepared his hammer for one more mighty strike to bring the door down; he was ready for his reward.  
But as he brought the hammer down…the door opened.

This resulted in the chieftain completely smashing the gravity hammer down onto the ground, causing him to lose his balance and sense of reliability on what just happened. Suddenly a black armoured figure ran up to him and balanced himself completely on the embedded hammer in the floor, using that the Spartan ran up and jumped over the chieftain, other soldiers followed suite; firing at the covenant warriors and rushing back out of the door whence they came.

Tangarus roared in frustration and immediately activated his large Crimson energy shields, nicknamed the 'Invincibility shields' these over charged mirror barriers could repel anything and anyone. The brute roared again as the red shields encased him, sending bullets simply bouncing of him as he ran forward and prepared to strike his hammer down.  
But they were too fast, and they weren't even trying to kill him; they were simply retreating back to the corridor of the hanger's and killing covenant along the way in a mad rush.

"Leave them be" Tangarus roared, "Let them flee."  
And then he turned around, stuck the hammer onto the holster on his thick muscled back and picked up one of the fallen Havoc missile pods; and then he walked in to the final room without challenge or complaint.

**Meanwhile**  
The large outlook bay of the corvette was heavily guarded with different forms of Sangheili, Unggoy and Kig-Yar warriors; they were unsure on the current location of the Spartan IV but they were prepared for any form of attack that he could encompass. Two burly hunters stood in the middle of the formation of fighters, making up the brutal attack force of the Storm soldiers. They had all amassed in order to protect the huge fuelling generator in the middle of them all, Mort'ang had known what the Spartan was after and had set security measures.

Gabriel crouched down by a set of simple door controls at the airlock system, he had just gone through the corridor that restored oxygen and gravity to the outlook bay of this quadrant of the ship, and that had given him an idea. There were a set of controls right near the high control terminal that overlooked this entire room. If he could get to them, then the covenant wouldn't be a problem anymore; or at least those without helmets wouldn't be.

And so he moved, sneakily and stealthily he moved himself upwards until he finally found himself right next to the control panel; getting to them was easier than expected.  
Gabriel swiftly overlooked the different forms of transactions the buttons did and using the simple translation guide in his Mjonlir helmet; he managed to find the function that was required; the destruction of the filtering oxygen system for this particular outlook bay.

He activated it swiftly, watching as the effects of the lack of oxygen quickly affected the covenant warriors who were amassed around the generator. The Kig-Yar noticed it first, they started wheezing and coughing out until they fell to the floor and squawked in pain, the unprotected Unggoy and Sangheili started to wheeze and vomit out different hues of blood as they too, felt the lack of oxygen and became lifeless due to it. Gabriel smiled as he saw only three figures still standing, the Deacon of the grunt armada who was outfitted with a small white cap that encased methane and oxygen as well as two white Ranger elites who immediately noticed the Spartan IV and opened fire.

The Blue Spartan fired his DMR efficiently, blowing of the grunt's cap so he too would have to suffer through the lack of oxygen and finally he managed to drop the elite's shields and pop them both with identical headshots.  
Gabriel rechecked the bodies and advanced, he was very impressed with his own suit's oxygen reserves and happy they worked in such a tight squeeze; then finally he got to the generator and prepared to smash it until it was barely recognisable.

But something smashed him first; the large ornate shield of a crouching hunter who had snuck up behind and immediately whacked the Spartan across the head and back with an oddly surprisingly accurate melee swipe. Gabriel fell to the floor immediately, completely knocked out cold and unconscious. The two hunters growled together in harmonious voices and left the room, they had remained unaffected by the lack of oxygen and had proven to be a worthy asset to capture the Spartan IV.


	30. Chapter 30 : To be continued

"Keep going!" Robert yelled outloud as the remaining soldiers fought their way through the corridors swiftly, all Storm soldiers in the way seemed extremely intent on stopping them; but nothing could halt the speed and efficiency of the Spartan IV, six remaining ODST's and the five last marines of the entire base. They moved forward and together like an elite unstoppable force, almost with the tenacity of the invading Storm soldiers in the first place. Every covenant warrior that stood in their way was immediately shot down and run over by the overwhelming rounds and fierce determination of the UNSC soldiers who were willing to live and fight another day.

Lucifer picked up a covenant energy shield in-between strides as he sprinted in front of the group, he immediately swung the blade as he ran forward and cut through two Sangheili warriors in one feral sweep fuelled with passion and true anger.

A pair of hunters walked up to the sprinting soldiers, they grumbled and fired together in a perfectly symmetrical blast of green fuel rod cannon fire; only for the UNSC soldiers to dodge the green fire and shoot right back at the hunters. Lucifer sprinted forwards and jumped onto the shield of the first hunter, then using that as a base to jump over he managed to land behind the two titans and slash both of them in the orange weak exposed segments in the back with one perfectly balanced swipe.

The group kept running, they were nearly at the hanger bay and the never-ending amount of storm covenant had finally ended with the entrance of the new room, pelicans and hornets lay in the middle of the bay; almost inviting the UNSC soldiers to climb on-board and escape the horrible fate that had felled many hundreds of the men and women who had attempted to defend the base.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" Robert roared triumphantly, allowing the remaining soldiers to quickly board the closest pelican and ignite the engines. Within seconds the entire UNSC vehicle was starting to hover and was almost ready to fly out of the lunar base 'Shield'.  
Lucifer grabbed onto the pelican last, just managing to sit down before it started blasting its primary engines and flying out of the hanger; the sight of banshee's and phantoms circling the entire base traumatised all of the soldiers; their escape might yet be prevented.  
"I don't think they even care about us." Marko, the ODST private noticed as the covenant fliers failed to notice the fleeing pelican.

However, one particular vehicle did manage to notice them; the large purple scarab had aimed its back turret straight up at the retreating soldiers and charged it green in order to start firing.  
"Brace yourself!" Lucifer yelled as the massive torrent of green fire erupted out of the back turret in one large but messy collection of flames and sparks; letting the pelican escape within a matter of metres.  
Only when the pelican was out of orbit, with the hanger doors shut and the windows sealed; did Lucifer start breathing again, he had made it out.

**Meanwhile**  
"Are you sure you can't raise communications in that mess!" Lieutenant Drafter shouted, paranoia creeping into her voice as the massive Assault Carrier neared itself closer and closer to the Battle Cruiser 'Red Dusk.'  
"Our coms won't pierce through the hull of that Corvette ma'am, I'm sorry." The operator replied, his voice completely lacking of emotion with the terror of face etched upon his face.

The ONI specialist walked back down from her seat and walked down to the operating pilots, she looked down and addressed them all, "You have all served this ship gratefully, I would understand if you would prefer to escape in an emergency pod then even try to face off against an Assault Carrier."  
But the answer was simple and straight forward; "Where with you all the way ma'am, if the Red Dusk is going down then so are we."

Suddenly the communications on her radio headset sparked alive, the familiar voice of Lucifer broke through and addressed them all, "The UNSC base 'Shield' is lost, we're in route in a pelican to your position…I'm sorry Lieutenant."  
Drafter walked back to the seat, watched over her crew and reported back, "Nothing to apologise for Spartan, I recommend you change course to the system of Genesis II as we are about to embark on a suicide assault with the covenant."  
Lucifer acknowledged and accepted that, knowing what was to finally befall to the Red Dusk. The assault carrier was right in front of the already worn Battle Cruiser; and preparing to fire upon it and destroy all it held and what it stood for.

The operators awaited orders patiently, knowing that the next move, no matter what it was, would be the last move that they could do as either free men or living humans.  
And then she spoke, "Let us write some history. Arm all canister's and weaponry for complete annihilation on that assault carrier, if this will be our last stand then I will make sure it will be such a stand!"  
"Yes ma'am!" The operators replied, clicking in the final orders and adjustments that the Red Dusk would ever do again.

And then the Assault Carrier fired, letting goblets of plasma the size of a small frigate to shoot out and smash into the shielding of the Battle Cruiser; letting the blue barriers merely deplete without a pause or attempt to stop the incoming blue fire; but the plasma continued after the shields, cutting through and smashing straight into the hull of the main vehicle and exposing its engines to another volley of plasma.  
"So this is the end" Drafter concluded.

But then, at the one statement that would finish the fight and resign the acts of men; as if the universe shouted at once that this was not to be. Someone said no.

A mac cannon shot fired straight through the assault carrier's nose from the side, stripping through and cutting the vehicle harshly from the side to create purple and black fire, the shielding split without warning and left the massive shuttle vulnerable to any forms of attack.

Drafter immediately looked to her left, knowing that every UNSC soldier and Covenant warrior would be doing the exactly same thing; and there it was, a massive human shuttle the size of an assault carrier, completely situated with heavy weaponry and frigates surrounding it under a combined spectacular fleet of the UNSC.  
"This is UNSC Fist of Judgement on station, I reckon you guys need some help."


End file.
